HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN
AND
ECCLESIASTICAL ROME.
In Preparation.
PART II.
THE LITURGY IN ROME.
PARTS III. AND IV. IN I Volume.
Part III.-MONASTICISM IN ROME.
Part IY.-ECCLESIASTICAL ROME.
HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN
AND
ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
BY
M. A. R. TUKER
AND
HOPE MALLESON
JBart i.
THE CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF ROME
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1900
This book was publisJud under initials until January, 1900
PREFACE.
This Handbook is intended to give the visitor to Rome
full information about the Christian side of its his-
tory, about Roman churches, ceremonies, and customs,
which does not fall within the scope of such an excel-
lent Handbook as that of Messrs. Murray's general
Guide.
It was to have formed one volume, but the matter
gradually exceeded all limits ; and it is now hoped
that this little series of books (of which the present is
much the largest) may prove as convenient, dealing as
each volume will do, with a subject complete in itself.
We cannot hope that among so much detail we have
b^en able to avoid all error ; nor that we have always
made the same choice as all our readers would have
done, as to what pieces of information to give, and
what to reluctantly withhold. When a choice has had
to be made, we have elected to tell what is less generally
known.
There' remains only the pleasure of recalling the
many kindnesses we have received, and of taking this
opportunity of thanking all who have helped us with
information, or by suggesting books.
Our gratitude is specially due to Monsignor J, A.
Campbell, Rector of the Scotch College in Rome, for
unwearied helpfulness, and readiness in answering an
infinity of questions, and for the courtesy of placing
his library at our disposal : and for the kind help given
us by Padre Semeria, Barnabite.
For the archaeological portion of this handbook we
are much indebted to conferences held on the spot by
the late Commendatore G.-B. De Rossi, and by his
pupil Professor Orazio Marucchi. And we desire also
to thank Professor Barnabei and the Ministry of
Public Instruction in Rome for facilities courteously
afforded us.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
I'AGE
Origin of the church in Rome — the church in the House — in
the Cemetery — in the City — Regions — TituH — Diaconise
— the Dominicum — earliest foundations — church build-
ing after the Peace — destruction of pagan buildings i — 8
CHAPTER n.
The Basilica — history — architecture — campanili — decora-
tion— mosaics — the pictures of the Madonna — cross —
crucifix ------ g — 27
CHAPTER HI.
Interior of a church — the font — pulpit — ambones — images —
iconoclastic controversy — lights — relics - - 28 — 45
CHAPTER IV.
S. Peter's — S. Peter in Rome — the old basilica — the present
basilica - - - - - - 4G — 87
CHAPTER V.
The Lateran Basilica — the Palace — Patriarchium — Bap-
tistery— Scala Santa — Christian Museum - 88 — 11 1
CHAPTER VI.
Basilica of S. Paul — monastery and cloister — TrcFontane—
S. Paulin Rome ----- 112— 125
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII.
S. Maria Maggiore— S. Sebastiano — S. Croce — S. Lorenzo —
S. Agnese ------ 126 — 158
CHAPTER VIII.
The Churches in Rome — their titular Saints — Saints'
emblems in art — shrines and rooms of saints in Rome —
the Ghetto and Trastevere - - 159 — 366
CHAPTER IX.
General history of the Catacombs — Art — Symbolism — In-
scriptions— objects found - - - - 367 — 421
CHAPTER X.
The Catacombs on the Via Appia — the catacomb of Callistus
— of S. Sebastian — of Balbina — Praetextatus.
On the Via Nomentana — S. Agnese — the Ostrianum —
S. Nicomedes.
On the Salaria Vetus— S. Ermete — Pamphylus— Liberale.
On the Salaria Nova — S. Felicita— S; Thraso— Jordanorum
— Priscilla — ^Novella.
On the Via Ostia — Lucina — Commodilla^Hortus Theonis —
Thecla — Zeno.
On the Aurelia — Octavilla — Processus and Martinianus —
Calepodius — S. Felix.
On the Latina — Gordianus and Epimachus — Apronianus —
TertuUinus.
On the Ardeatina— S. Domitilla— Basileus — SS. Marcus and
Balbina.
On Via Portuense — Pontianus — Julius.
On the Tiburtina— Cyriaca— Hippolytus.
On the Labicana— SS. Petrus and Marcellinus and Helena
— Castulus.
On the Flaminia — S. Valentinus - - - 422 — 533
Visitors' Calendar ----- 534-539
Emperors and Popes during the Age of the
Persecutions - . - . . ^40 — 541
Index ------- 542—547
LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED
FOR PART I.
Agincourt, Seroux d' .... Histoire de I'Art par ses monuments.
Ampere Histoire Romaine a Rome.
Armellini, Mariano Chiese di Roma.
,, Antichi Cimiteri Cristiani.
Cimitero di S. Agnese.
,, Cripta di S. Emerenziana.
Scoperto d'un Graffito Storico.
Roma, 1874.
Assemani, Joseph Aloysius Kalendaria ecclesiae universas.
Romae, 1755.
Bayet, Charles Art Byzantin.
Benoit Architecture Bizantine.
Bollandists. See De Smedt.
Breviarium Romanum.
Camerario, Cencio Liber Censuum.
Regesti del Pontifice Onorio III.
Canina Tempi Cristiani.
Ciampini Vetera Monumenta. Romae, 1690.
Couchaud Choir d'Eglises Bizantines.
Corroyer Architecture Romane.
De Rossi, G. B Bulletino di archeologia Cristiana
Roma.
,, Inscriptiones Christianae.
X LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED
De Rossi, G. B Musaici.
Roma Sotterranea.
De Smedt. Pere J., S. J.
de Backer, Houze, and
van Ortroy Analecta BoUandiana. Paris, 1888.
Einsiedeln Itinerary.
Fergusson History of Architecture.
Handbook of Architecture.
Fontana Raccolta della Chiese di Roma.
Tempio Vaticano. Roma, 1694.
Germano, Padre La casa celimontana dei SS. martin
Giovanni e Paolo.
Gibbon Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Gregorovius, Ferdinand . . History of Rome in the Middle
Ages, English translation by Annie
Hamilton, and Italian translation.
Guerin, Monsignor Paul. . Les Petits BoUandistes. Paris, 1882.
Itinerarium Salisburgense.
Jameson, Mrs Sacred and Legendary Art.
Johannes Abbas Index Oleorum.
Johannes Diaconus (Hy-
monides) Vita S. Gregorii Magni (in Migne).
Justiniani Digesta.
Kraus Real-Encyklopadie der Christlichen
Alterthiimer.
Laterouilly Edifices de Rome. Paris, 1840-1857.
Le Vatican et S. Pierre de Rome.
Le Blant, Edmond Inscriptions Chretiennes de la Gaule
anterieures au VIII^ siecle. Paris,
1856.
Lenoir Architecture monastique.
Liber Pontificalis, Edition Duchesne. Paris, 1884.
Malmesbury, William of Notitia Portarum, etc., circa Urbem
Romam.
Marchi, Padre Monumenti delle Arti cristiane
primitive nella metropoli del cris-
tianesimo. Roma, 1844.
Martyrology, Roman.
LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED xi
Marucchi, Professor Orazio Memorie dei SS. Pietro e Paolo,
Cimitero di S. Valentino.
Mirabilia urbis Romae.
Mullooly San Clemente.
Nibby Roma Moderna. Roma, 1839.
Okely Development of Christian Architec-
ture in Italy. London, i860.
Orsola, Suor Cronaca (Roma, 1607). Vat. Arch.
7847.
Quatremere de Quincey . . Dictionnaire Historique d'Architec-
ture. Paris, 1832.
Renan, Ernest Hibbert Lecture. 1880.
Ruinart, Thierrx Acta primorum Martyrum Sincera.
1713-
Severano Le Sette Chiese (1629).
Signorili Codex. Vatican Archs.
Silvagni Corte e Societa Romana.
Smith and Cheetham .... Dictionary of Christian Antiquities
Smith and Ware Dictionary of Christian Biography.
Tacitus Annali.
Tertullian De corona militis.
De Praescriptionibus contra Here-
ticos.
Tillemont, Le Nain de . . Memoires de I'histoire ecclesiastique
des VI. premiers siecles. Paris,
1701, and Venezia, 1532.
Torrigio, Francesco Maria Le sacre Grotte Vaticane. Roma,
1639-
Trent Canones et Decreta Sacrosancti
CEcumenici Concilii Tridentini.
Romae, 1893.
Twining Symbols of early Christian Art.
Waal, Monsignor de I Luoghi Pii sul'territorio Vaticano.
Roma. 1886.
Wetzer und Welte Kirchenlexicon.
ERRATA.
Page 34, line 29, for " page 61 " yead " page 16."
Page 49, first footnote, for " Annali " read " Annates."
Page 108, line 34, for " Chapter IX." read " page 408."
Page 113, line 3 of footnote, for " He was " read " His grandson
was."
Page 140, line 33, for " Cipolanno " read " Cipollano."
Page 151, first note, for " See Catacombs, page 367, and Chapels,
page 380," read " See Catacombs, page 380, and Chapels,
page 31."
Page 157, first note,/oy " See Chapter II." read " See S. Nicomedes,
page 453."
Page 167, for footnote substitute " Cf. the discovery mentioned on
page 465."
Page 257, line 30, for " page 127 " read " page 427."
Page 277, footnote, /oj- "canon's choir" read "canons' choir."
Page 280, line 13, for " Chapter X." read " page 523."
Page 305, Hne 2, for " Chapter X." read " page 515."
Page 311, Hne 6, for " Chapter X." read " page 502."
fage 357, line 6 from bottom, for " SS. Anna " read " S. Anna dei
Calzettari "; and in following line, /w " S. Anna" read
" SS. Anna e Gioacchino."
HANDBOOK TO CHRISTIAN
AND
ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME.
The church tn the House — in the Cemetery — in the City — Regions— TituH
— Diaconia — the Dominicum — the earliest foutidations — Church-
bmlding after the peace — and destruction of pagan buildings.
The first place used for Christian worship was the
dwelling of the convert Christians, and the first idea
of a church was the idea of a house, Domus.
The reasons for this lay partly in the necessities of
the time, it being impossible for Christians while they
were persecuted to hold their worship in public places,
but they were also peculiar to the genius of Christianity,
and to the sentiment of the first Christians.
The worship of Christians had begun in a room, its
central point, the last Supper, had been celebrated in
" an upper chamber," and the new church had issued
forth on the day of Pentecost from a similar "upper
room." So it was in a room of the villas and houses of The Room
Christians, which were often contiguous to the sepolcreto P'' Church
possessed by them outside the walls of Rome, that „
churches were first dedicated. " Salute Prisca and
Aquila " writes St. Paul, "... and the church that
I
2 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
is in their house " " Salute Nymphas and the church
that is in her house."'''
" L'EgHse n'avait riendu temple; car on maintenait
comme un principe absolu que Dieu n'a pas besoin du
temple, que son vrai temple c'est le cceur de I'homme
juste . . . c'etait cependant deja un edifice a part ; on
I'appelait ' la maison du Seigneur.' "f To this first
place of reunion a strong and tender sentiment of piety
attached. The risen Lord had appeared to the disciples
in their own houses and at the hour of the breaking
of bread, and the rite of ' breaking bread ' and the
special sense of Christ's presence were inseparably
connected by the earliest history of their faith with
the house and assembly of the faithful. So too the
significance of the words of the last Prophet " Presently
the Lord whom you seek shall come to his temple,"
had been interpreted to them in the words of Christ :
" Behold here more than the temple," transferring to
His own person the sacredness of that House, which
had hallowed all within it.j Henceforth, it is the
presence of Christ which creates the temple. Herein
lay the new genius of Christianity, the principle which
in the fervour of aspiration and faith experienced in
the first ' church in the house,' was the seed of every
later development of the Christian church.
The Next in chronological order to the church in the
church in house, we find a chamber adapted in the catacombs
comt» ^' for purposes of assembly. The Crypts of the cemeteries
were primarily used for burial rites and anniversaries,
and later for the instruction of catechumens, and were
not designed for the celebration of the Liturgy, the
occasion for these celebrations in a catacomb being
the commemoration of a martyr, and the table-tomb
then serving as the altar. Gradually, however, on
account of the tombs of the martyrs, the Eucharist
came to be more often celebrated there than in the
• Rom. xvi. 3, 4; Col. iv. 15.
f Renan, Marc Aurele et la Fin du Monde antique.
J Cf. S. John ii. 19, 21 ; and Apocalypse, xxi. 22.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 3
villa above ; and as the catacombs expanded, chambers
came to be excavated opposite or near the martyr's
tomb for the reception of a larger number of persons
at these commemorations.
Finally, following the precedent of the primitive The first
room dedicated as a church in the villa of the Christian, churches
the first church within the city walls w^as probably ^" ^'^^ '^"-"
a house adapted to the purposes of a church, and is
first met with under the name of domus ecclesits, the
church-house. We find it called oikos, a house, and
the phrase cts oikov used to describe where superfluous
offerings to the altar were to be taken. The Roman
houses lent themselves to such conversion, as we see
them at Pompeii, with a porticoed atrium opening on
the public way, and rooms disposed round a central
court. Such an arrangement was well adapted to the
various sorts of worshippers ; and when, instead of a
room, an entire house was devoted as a church, hardly
any alteration of the plan would have been required.
So, too, when churches were first erected as separate
buildings, the type chosen resembles most nearly that
of a room or house.
From an early period the domus ecclesice is found " Domus
within the city as a centre of Christian assembly ecclesiae."
and operativeness, and as it was named after the
proprietor or donor, it was called titulus, a title, Tituli.
tittilus Lwina, Pudentis, VestincB ; more rarely after
some local memory, as titulus Pallacince. It is con-
jectured that these tituli existed long anterior to the
pontificate of Marcellus (a.d. 304.) They bore a
strict relation to the 14 municipal regions into which The
Augustus had divided the city, each ecclesiastical ""^gions of
division being formed of two of these. These divisions ^^^ ^
axe still called rioni.^- Repeated allusion is made in
* In his " Roma Sotterranea," vol. iii., p. 514 «^ seq., De Rossi
illustrates the position of these original seven regions from the
testimony afforded by the monuments. The first eccle.siastical
region corresponded to the xiii'h civil region, embracing es-
pecially the Aventine ; the second embraced the ii"^ civil region,
I — 2
4 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the Liber Pontificalis to these regions ; in the life of
Evaristus we read of the appointment of presbyters to
the various titles : " Hie titulos in urbe Roma divisit
presbyteris " (a.d. 112). Fabian is said to have in-
creased to 14 the 7 original regions, and to have ap-
pointed 14 deacons (a.d. 238). Marcellus, in 308, con-
stitutes 25 urban tituli for the purposes of baptism,
penance, and the burial of martyrs ; and 50 years earlier
the same is recorded of Dionysius.*
The The titulus must be regarded as an authorized
titulus. ecclesiastical centre providing for the spiritual needs
of the Christians in its district ; for the instruction
of catechumens, the ordering of deacons and priests,
for sacred psalmody, and burial, and for the baptism
of converts and infants. Later it became what we
now mean by a parish church, and the special mark
of the titulus, its font, is the invariable sign of the
parish church to-day. At first the titulus was not
devised for the celebration of the liturgy, the Bishop's
Eucharist was the only one celebrated and all the
faithful attended it. It is at a later date that the
tituli became self-dependent centres. From the in.
century a suburban cemetery was attached to each
urban titulus, and the catacombs now being adminis-
tered by the Church as a public body, each titulus
appointed a cleric to officiate in its dependent cemetery ;
an arrangement which De Rossi supposes to have
existed from the time of Fabian, a.d. 238.
The Seven The 7 ecclesiastical regions were presided over
Deacons, ^^y y deacons. Clement is said by tradition to have
established 7 diaconeries in Rome as the apostles
had appointed 7 deacons. The Domus of the region
The -was know^n as the Diaconia, literally a house of
Diaconia.
the CeUan hill ; the third embraced the iii"^ and v''' civil regions ;
the fotirth covered the iv"> and v\^ ; the fifth included the vii'h
and part of the viii"> ; the sixth probably corresponded with the
ix'h ; and the seventh with the xiv'h.
* This was when Gallienus (260-268) restored the property of
the Church, confiscated during the persecutions.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 5
ministry, to which was attached a hospice and
church. The exact service rendered by the diaconia
is disputed by writers on the subject ; some con-
sidering that the functions enumerated above were
pecuHar to tituli headed by presbyters, while those of
the diaconia were restricted to the distribution of alms ;
others, that the diaconiae were pious places or oratories
with a hospice for the succour and maintenance of the
infirm and poor of the region. The Abbe Duchesne
has pointed out that while the diaconal titles are found
in the central regions of the city, the presbyteral titles
were in different and often remote sites.
It would appear more probable that diaconiae were
regional church-houses still more ancient than the
presbyteral tituli, serving as centres of administration
for the EccUsia Fratnim, centres to which everything
was referred and everyone applied, and from which,
more especially, the treasure of the church was ad-
ministered.* The administrator of the titulus derived
his own name from it, as presbyterus titidis Praxedis,
priest of the title of Prassede ; but deacons were at first
called after the region — deacon of the first, or of the
second, region.
Besides such names as titulus Praxedis, Piidentis, etc.,
the building was early called Domus Dei, and then
Doininictim. Dominicum is the true ancient name for Domini-
the Christian church, " the Lord's house or place." cum.
The word Domus ceased to be used in the time of
Constantine, the word Dominicum at the end of the
IV. century. The only church still so called in
Rome is the ancient archdiaconia of the city, which
was Cyriaca's house, now dedicated as S. Maria in
Domnica. The word ecclesia gradually and naturally
attached to the domus, though its first meaning denoted
the Christians themselves, the assembly, not the place
of assembly.
The word Domus is still preserved for us in the "Domus.
• See " Deacons, " Part IV
6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
name for our cathedrals — Duomo, Dome; and the
idea of the church as a House is by no means lost
to-day. It has sprung naturally from the double
aspect of the church as the Christian's house and as
God's house (Domus ecclesics, Domus Dei). Churches
have always been used on momentous occasions for
assemblies and discussions, and as centres of the
public life, and councils synods and miracle plays
have been held in them. In Rome the church is the
other house of the people ; mothers take their babies
with them, little children play in them while their
mothers pray, and the very raggedest little person in
the church may be seen getting the best place in front
at the great functions. Through the magnificence and
brightness of the churches they share in what has
beauty and splendour, and, by the contrast these
afford to their ordinary surroundings, they live a life
of the imagination otherwise closed to them.
Basilica. The word Basilica was not adopted till the time of
Constantine ; nor were the city basilicas and tituli
dedicated to saints until the bodies of the martyrs
were removed to them. The earliest dedications, there-
fore, as the earliest feast days, in the Christian Church,
all commemorate martyrs.
Numberof There was probably no enumeration of the Roman
the early churches earlier than the beginning of the sixth cen-
Romaii tury. The register of public monuments in Rome
made by the Armenian bishop Zacharias in the time
of Justinian enumerates 24 ; but the number is so
insignificant that the document must borrow from
a much earlier authority. There were probably at
least 28 tituli — presbyteral and diaconal churches
— 150 years earlier than this, besides the 5 great
basilicas and numerous oratories and chapels.* An
interesting list of these churches appears from the
• When Ambrose stayed in Rome, he was accustomed to cele-
brate the liturgy in the house of a noble Roman woman.
Optatus Milevius {circa 370), speaking of the Donatists, say
that among 40 Roman basilicas, they had no place of assembly.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME 7
subscriptions of their titulars to the synod held by
Pope Symmachus in a.d. 499.
It is conjectured that churches were first built When
in the 38 years of peace after Severus, or in the churches
peace of Gallienus (260-268), although nothing re- ^^[j^ """^^
mains as evidence of this. Tradition says that the
house of Priscilla and her son the senator Pudens,
was dedicated as a " church " by S. Peter, and it is
recorded of CeciHa in the 11. century that she wished
to have her house consecrated as a " church," Cyriaca,
in the middle of the iii. century, made a "church" in
her house, and in the first years of the iv. century
Lucina had her house converted into a " church."
But the earliest foundations whose history is re- The
corded for us date from the iv. century. Such are S. earhest
Pudenziana, S. Lorenzo in Lucina, S. Prisca, S. Cecilia, ^?^ ^'
S. Maria in Trastevere, S. Marco, the titulus Pallacinae, Rome.
S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and at the end of the iv.
century SS. Giovanni e Paolo, the titulus Bizantis
or Pammachii.
Two causes acted in this first foundation of churches.
In the very earliest instances the Roman matrons con-
verted their houses into churches ; the archpresbyteral
title and the archdiaconal title in Rome both have this
origin. The cult of the martyrs gave rise to the next
foundations. From the time of Constantine basilicas
were built over the contemporaneous oratories where
they lay. the celebrated crypts becoming as many
basilicas. Some of the earliest edifices belong to this
category of sepulchral churches, as S. Agnese, S.
Lorenzo, S. Paolo, S. Petronilla.
The Roman people and patricians were always
munificent church-builders, and from the viii. century
the gilds built churches. Later still, cardinals became
great constructors and restorers of their titular church,
or of churches and chapels connected with their families.
Apparently monachism gave rise to less church-build-
ing in Rome than elsewhere, very few edifices having
been constructed as monastic churches. Many edifices
8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
also have been attributed directly to the Roman pontiffs
because built in their time, as in other countries similar
monuments are referred to kings.
Christian The ancient tituli, or Church-houses, were in most
churches cases probably converted into simple basilicas after
within the ^j^g "Peace of the Church ;" Basihcas for the bodies of
the Peace ^^^ great martyrs being as a rule built independently,
as they had been built over their tombs outside the
walls. The churches which retained the name of
tituli were reckoned as the parish churches of the city.
Destruc- The Christians must have overthrown many of the
tion of temples of the gods before the invasion of Alaric (410).'-^
emp es. g^^ ^^^ chief destroyers of the ancient buildings were
Totila and Belisarius (vi. century). Theodosius en-
deavoured to finally suppress the worship of the gods,
Honorius ^"^ under his successor Honorius Pagan Rome in fact
J94-408. ' ceased to exist. By the time of Gregory the Great,
writes Gregorovius, the city was strewn with great
ruins of the monuments with which the munificence of
her emperors from Augustus to Severus had dowered
her. But Gregory himself was not a destroyer of the
ancient monuments.
* Gregorovius.
CHAPTER 11.
THE BASILICA.
Its history — architecture — campanile — decoration— mosaics — pictures of
the Madonna — cross — crucifix.
The Roman basilica does not at first sight receive
the appreciation it deserves, especially from the
northern visitor, whose ideas of Christian architecture
are inseparably associated with the gray Gothic cathe-
drals of his country, ideas which it takes time to re-
adjust. Later one gets to appreciate the beauty of the
simple form and the straight parallel lines ; and the
harmonious effect of the long rows of delicate pillars,
the soft tones of the pavement, and the brilliant colour-
ing of the apse mosaics, exert a constraining charm
upon the beholder never again lost. The basilica in
its primitive form, as we know it in the few beautiful
examples which have come down to us, is the first
parent of Christian temples. It was first built, as we
have seen, in the iv. century, when the persecution
of the Christians ceased, and the Church was enabled
finally to abandon its secret life in the catacombs.
At once the need arose to build a place of assembly
for the faithful, but the moment was an unpropitious
one : the greatness of pagan Rome had gone for ever,
its great empire was falling into ruin, the age of crea-
tion in art was over to be followed by one of imitation
and decline. It was obvious that Christian builders
could not take as their models the pagan temples
which stood in their magnificence on every side. Such
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Name
basilica.
Use of
pagan
basilica.
Roman-
esque
architec-
ture.
In North
of Italy.
In Rome
and
Ravenna.
Byzantine
influence
on Rome.
a course would have been against every feeling and
tradition of the time. Incapable of creating a new
type, they adopted instead the pagan basilica, or hall
of justice, as the type of the Christian church, a
building so well adapted to the new worship that
hardly any alteration was necessary.
The name " basilica," the Greek fiaa-ikiK-q, means a
kingly place, where possibly kings held their audiences.
In the Roman usage, although the form was borrowed
from the Greek, it was used as a hall of justice or for
the transaction of business in bad weather, for which
its position on a forum made it especially convenient.
The pagan basilica then, was the primitive form of
the Christian church, a style of architecture which,
with its later developments, came to be called Roman-
esque or transitional Roman. With slight local dif-
ferences, it was adopted throughout the empire for
some two centuries. After this period it developed
into the great styles of architecture, the Byzantine of
the east, and the Gothic of the west, the Byzantine
separating itself completely from western influence,
the Gothic spreading and developing throughout the
north of Europe.
The Romanesque survived longest in those parts
most under the influence of Rome : in the south of
France and in the north of Italy, until the eleventh
and twelfth centuries. In Pisa Florence and Venice
we find, however, traces of Gothic influence, S. Mark's
Venice being the one instance of distinctly Byzantine
style.
Rome, still the mistress of the civilized world in
feeling, if not in fact, seems to have resisted the in-
fluence of the northern barbarian upon her architecture,
and we find within the city and at Ravenna the Roman-
esque style practised during the middle ages, and
until superseded by the Renaissance.
Rome was undoubtedly also influenced by the
Byzantine forms, which, developing from the Roman,
reacted again upon them later, especially with regard
Gothic
influence
on Rome.
12 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
to painting and decoration. The trace of Gothic in-
fluence, on the other hand, is so shght in Rome as
to be practically non-existent. It came there late, and
at the moment of its own decline. Slight traces, a
pointed arch or window, are met with in some of the
cloisters, in the Church of S. Agostino, in the apse
of SS. Giovanni and Paolo, and in the Church of
PLAN OF BASILICA OF MAXENTIOS.
S. Maria sopra Minerva which is entirely Gothic,
but which was built by foreign monks in the xiv.
century.
By comparing the ground-plan of one of the pagan
basilicas, such as the Flavian on the Palatine (built
A.D. 70-80), or the Ulpian (a.d. 114), with that of a
Christian basilica, such as S. Clemente, their similarity
is manifest. Both are rectangular buildings with
THE BASILICA 13
central nave divided from the aisles by rows of pillars
supporting a straight wall, and a horizontal or arched
roof. The Ulpian basilica was 87 feet in width, and Ulpian
was higher than any English cathedral. An upper basilica,
row of columns upon the pillars of the nave enclosed a
gallery reserved for women, an architectural arrange-
ment which occurs in S. Agnese Fuori and in S. Lorenzo
Fuori. At the extremity of the nave was a semicir-
cular apse at a higher level, where the seats for the
judge and assessors were placed.
The basilica of Maxentius in the Forum, built at a Basilica of
later date (a.d. 306), is of the vaulted type. Here the Maxen-
nave pillars were superseded for greater strength by ^^"^•
eight piers to support the arches of the roof, an ar-
rangement in its turn adopted by Christian architects,
though never on so grand a scale. A wooden roof
was adopted in the earlier Christian basilicas ; nor did
the popes or the Christian builders scruple to demolish
the monuments of ancient Rome to provide themselves
with the nave pillars and the materials they required,
and for many centuries the palaces and temples of the
pagan Romans served as inexhaustible stone-quarries
for their Christian successors.
The Christian basilica, of which S. Clemente is Christian
perhaps the most perfect type now in Rome, was pre- basilica,
ceded by a square court or atrium, also called quadri- Atrium.
porticus, surrounded by open colonnades, in which sat
penitents begging for the prayers of the faithful. Here
popes, benefactors and illustrious persons were buried,
the body of the martyr alone resting within the basilica.
The origin of this outer court is obscure. The form
is said to have come from the East, where later it
developed into the Moslem mosque, or it may be the
relic or representation of the ancient forum which
invariably accompanied the pagan basilica.*
The portico next the church was called the narthex, Narthex.
to which the catechumens retired during the more
* Fergusson, History of Architecture.
Til ^
a-'
S f
HI
• f
»•
* wl H>
•
^1
^
loL-
'1
•
•
Sffil
CHRISTIAN BASILICA OF S. CLF.MENTE, A.D. 1 128.
THE BASILICA 15
solemn portions of the mass. In the centre of the
court was a fountain or marble basin, the cantharus, Can-
for the washing of hands before entering the church, a tharus.
custom which survives in the present habit of dipping
the fingers in holy water at the church door.
Generally, a circular building, the baptistery, stood Baptis-
without the church. These detached baptisteries are ^^''y-
found in Northern Italy to a late date ; but in Rome
a baptismal font was early substituted, standing either
to the right or to the left immediately within the main
door of the church. This change is said to have been
effected by the time of Gregory the Great.
The basilica itself was a rectangular hall with a
wide nave, flanked by a single or double row of pillars Nave,
forming two or four aisles. These pillars, borrowed
from pagan buildings, often vary in girth, height, and
ornamentation in the same church. They support the
high plain brick wall, pierced with rounded or arched
windows. The entablature above the pillars is gener-
ally horizontal, sometimes slightly arched. The plain
wooden rafters of the roof are always visible in the Roof,
early basilicas, with great beams spanning the immense
width of the nave. Later, architects aspired to a
vaulted roof; this was easily effected in the aisles,
their height being, as a rule, half that of the nave,
and being narrow a vaulted ceiHng was easily sub-
stituted for the wooden rafters. In the nave how-
ever we find a horizontal roof retained to a much later
date, owing to the difficulty of supporting a vaulted
ceiling upon a single row of pillars over such a wide
space. The difficulty was met, as in the basilica of
Maxentius, by substituting masonry piers in the nave
for the original pillars, either enclosing these latter
entirely in the piers, as in the Lateran, or in placing
them alternately between each two pillars, or against
them.
The basilica nave terminates in a great semicircular
apse or tribune raised, with the space in front of it,
by some three to seven steps above the level of the
i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Transept.
Bishop's
throne or
cathedra.
Bema or
presby-
tery.
Can-
cellum.
Pave-
ment.
Marble
mosaic.
Altar.
nave. Sometimes a transverse nave or transept is in-
troduced, which however extends but sHghtly beyond
the width of the nave, with sometimes an apse at
either end. The bishop's throne stands in the centre
of the apse, with the seats for the clergy on either side
of it. This raised portion of the extremity of the nave
is sometimes enclosed with a balustrade, forming the
so-called bema or presbytery, for the use of the clergy.
A similar arrangement can still be seen in the Flavian
basilica of Domitian on the Palatine. Here fragments
of a marble balustrade or cancellum remain, dividing
the nave from the raised tribune, to which, no doubt,
culprits were brought before the judges who sat within.
The pavement of the basilica, one of its most charac-
teristic features, was of Roman mosaic ; of porphyry,
serpentine, and marble, arranged in patterns of har-
monious colouring. These marble mosaics, and the
art of marble carving, flourished in Rome in the xii.
and XIII. centuries under the hands of the great
Cosma family and a whole school of artists, and the
beautiful mosaic and marble altars, screens, tombs,
thrones, and ambones, etc., which have come down to
us from this epoch, are among the most characteristic
and admirable features of the Roman basilicas.
The basilica altar stands in front of the apse. The
position of this one altar was determined by that of
the martyr's tomb. And to understand the appear-
ance of the basilican altar, we must bear in mind
that Christianity in Rome grew into being in that vast
city of the dead, the catacombs, and that when it
commenced its life above ground, the first churches
built by the Christians were inseparably connected in
sentiment, and in many cases in position, with the
hallowed regions which had been the cradle of their
faith. As we have seen, some of the earliest basilicas
were built within the house of some prominent member
of the community, which had already served as a
secret meeting-place ; others, and this type we find
outside the walls of the city, commemorated some
THE BASILICA I7
spot hallowed by the death or burial of a martyr. In
the catacomb, the martyr's tomb was itself the altar ; The mar-
and when the basilica was built, it centred round this ^y^'s tomb
spot sanctified by many memories. In some cases the catacomb
ground was cut away so as to place the foundations of
the basilica upon the actual level of the catacomb, as
in S. Agnese ; in others, the church was built immedi- In the
ately over the site of the tomb, as in S. Peter's and basilica.
S. Paolo Fuori ; while in the case of the destroyed
Church of S. Valentine, the basilica was placed by the
side of the catacomb on account of the hilly nature of
the ground.
The altar of the basilica, following the precedent of
the catacomb, is thus placed upon the martyr's tomb.
Round it is a depressed space the confession, in some Confes-
cases the actual portion of the original catacomb con- sion.
taining the grave. The name is derived from the word
confessor, and means the tomb of a confessor of the faith.
It is reached by two flights of steps, and is generally
surrounded by a marble balustrade. When later,
basilicas were built in honour of martyrs, not upon
their actual tombs, the same plan was adhered to, and
the bones or relics of the martyrs were placed beneath
the high altar.
The altar of a basilica faces the apse, with its back
to the confession, and the priest in celebrating mass,
stands with his back to the apse and the clergy, and
facing the people and the main entrance of the church,
which in some cases is to the east, though the custom
of building churches direct east and west has never
prevailed to any great extent in Italy.
The choir of a basiUca for the lesser clergy was choir,
placed in the centre of the nave in front of the con-
fession. It was surrounded by a screen of carved
marble, low enough to allow those without to see all Pectoral
within, called the pectoral transenna. At either side of transenna.
the choir were the two ainhones or pulpits, from which Ambones.
.the Gospel and Epistle were read. Beside that to the Candela-
right, the Gospel ambone, stood a candelabrum. The brum.
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Side
chapels
added
later.
Exterior.
Fagade.
Cam-
panile.
floor of the choir was raised some 9 or 12 inches
above the level of the nave, and in some churches,
as S. Maria in Cosmedin, where the choir has been
rerrioved, this raised portion still remains in the pave-
ment.
At a later date the primitive form of the basilica
was subjected to alteration and modification. Side
chapels and oratories were added, nave piers were in-
troduced, and the roofs were vaulted ; other tombs than
that of the martyr were placed in the church itself,
and the original regularity of the building was lost.
Later again, elaborate hangings and tapestries were
used as decoration, until in the time of Nicholas V.,
we read of the basilica being " ornee, meublee, en-
combree."*
The basilica like its pagan predecessor, was singu-
larly plain and undecorated on the outside. Within
the city, the Christian basilicas were, as a rule, built
in streets among crowded houses, with no open space
around them ; and little attention was paid to their
walls, which were of plain brick, with simple arched,
or round windows. The fa9ade alone was decorated
with mosaic, or with tiers of windows with ornamented
pillars.
One of the earliest additions to the primitive form
of the basilica was the erection of a bell-tower or
campanile. The first of these was built to the atrium
of S. Peter's by Adrian I. in the viii. century,
and campanili were built through the xii. and
XIII. centuries, and are among the most perfect
and least altered buildings of the middle ages which
have come down to us, the ancient apse and the
campanile being often spared in late restorations.
They seem to have been at first attached to the
atrium, or to one of the transepts, or to have stood on
one or both sides of the main entrance, or they were
detached altogether ; they never seemed to form part
of the main plan of the building. In other parts of^
* Batiflfol, Histoire du Breviaire Roma in.
TYPE OF FACADE.
I, of Pantheon ; 2, of Old S. Peter's, Basilica form ; 3, of New
S. Peter's, Renaissance, as designed by Michael Angelo
(from Seroux d'Agincourt).
2 — 2
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
In
Northern
Italy.
Form.
Round,
square,
and
polygonal
basilicas.
Frescoes.
Mosaics.
Italy, round and polygonal campanili are found, and
from them grew the towers and spires which form so
important a feature of Gothic cathedrals ; but in Rome
they never varied from the original square form. Here
they are the same size from base to summit, the lower
part of solid masonry, the upper portion consisting of
a series of open windows, ornamented with tiny pillars
one above the other, presenting the appearance of a
series of loggie ; on the summit, a single cone, or a
central cone, with smaller ones at the angles. The
whole tower is often ornamented Avith mosaic, or with
little slabs of coloured marble, porphyry or bronze.
The campanili of S. Pudentiana and S. Prassede
are among the earliest in Rome. Many date from
the pontificate of Leo III., who was a great restorer
and builder of churches.
Round, square, and polygonal basilicas also existed
contemporaneously with the rectangular forms, and
preserved the same type of construction, although they
never became so universal, or reached to such perfec-
tion among the Roman architects, as they did in the
Byzantine and Renaissance styles. S. Stefano Rotondo
and S. Costanza are types of the circular basilica.
The former, which is probably of the v. or vi. century,
is 2IO feet in diameter. S. Giovanni in Fonte, the
Lateran baptistery is an example of an octagonal basilica.
The extreme simplicity and plainness of the Roman
basilica, and the absence of architectural ornament, left
more scope for the painter and mosaicist, whose work
seems to have been considered of pre-eminent import-
ance, all else, even form, being considered subsidiary.
The plain walls of nave and aisles above the columns
were covered with frescoes, generally representing
scenes from the Old and New Testaments and from
the lives of saints, while the great vault and arch of the
tribune were decorated with mosaics. This latter form
of decoration, used by the Romans on their pavements,
was adopted for its durability, and became one of the
most characteristic features of the basilica.
THE BASILICA 21
At first the Christian artists followed classical
models, and the change was one of subject and belief,
not of style. In the first centuries this was mystical
and symbolic. In the earliest mosaics, such as those
in the church of S. Pudentiana, which are of the time
of Pope Siricius (384-398), the four Evangelists are Emblems
represented emblematically by the lion, ox, cherub, of Evan-
and eagle ; these occur either in a row or at the four &^"^ts.
corners. The Saviour is generally represented as the
Lamb upon the Mount, or enthroned with the Book of The
the Seven Seals ; the rivers of Jordan and Euphrates Lamb.
flow from beneath His feet. The 12 Apostles ap- 12
pear as 12 sheep issuing from the two mystic cities Apostles.
of Jerusalem and Bethlehem ; in S, Clemente, as
doves upon a cross. Sometimes a hand holding a Hand
wreath above the Saviour, typifies the Eternal Father, holding a
The Prophets are generally in medallions high up, wreath.
Sometimes and in later churches, the figure of the Prophets.
Saviour is in the centre between apostles or saints ;
and if a pope has been a benefactor to the church, he Bene-
will appear at the side or on his knees below, and if factor,
still living, will wear the square nimbus.
The mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore, of Pope Sixtus III .
(432-440), and those of S. Sabina (425) were of these
types ; while those of S. Costanza, of the iv. century,
represent flowers, fruit, and genii, and follow more
closely the classic model.
After the v. century a change creeps into the Byzantine
work of the Roman artists, and gradually classical influence,
models are abandoned for the Byzantine. The sub-
jects become more historical, scenes from the Old and
New Testaments are depicted, and worldly magni-
ficence is introduced into the representations of Christ
and the Madonna. The mosaics of SS. Cosma and
Damian, of the vi. century, are of an interesting
transitional period, when, without showing Byzantine
influence, the grace of the antique is already gone.
Those of S. Venantius, on the other hand, of the time
of John IV, (640-642), are decidedly Byzantine,
22 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Pictures The representations of the Madonna have been
of the subjected to the same transition of style. The earhest
Madonna, ^f ^hese exists in the catacomb of S. Priscilla, and is
In cata- probably of the i. century.* The Madonna is here
S Pris- depicted seated in a natural attitude, the child upon
cilia, I. her knee, above her head the star, and in front a
century, figure, perhaps a prophet or one of the Magi.
In Ostrian Another representation of the Madonna upon an
catacomb, arcosolium in the Ostrian cemetery, which is of the
tur ^^^' ^^' century, may be taken as the earliest example
of a changing type. From this period a long series,
extending into the xiii. century, shows the type be-
coming sterner, more formal and more thoroughly
Byzantine.
In cata- The Madonna in the catacomb of S. Valentine, of the
c°'v'i°^ VII. century, is a good and early example of the series,
*-,\.^ ^!f."' The Madonna, in a stiff and formal attitude, is dressed
tme, VII. ... ,'.... r T-. • T-
century. ™- ^i<^" robes m imitation ol a Byzantine impress.
She is stern of aspect, and wears a veil and round
nimbus. The head of the child reaches to the exact
centre of her breast ; he also wears a round nimbus.
A similar cycle can be traced in the history of the
The cross representations of the cross and of the crucifixion,
and cruel- 'phg cross is not an emblem which occurs early,
^ save in allusion, and occultly. When it appears it has
several forms : the equilateral or Greek cross -[-; the
Latin cross "j" ; the tcui - shaped cross T, called in
modern times the S. Antony's crossf ; and the trans-
verse cross, or cross of S. Andrew, X, made like the
Greek letter ch.
Examples of all these are to be found in the cata-
combs, but as decoration. It is not till about the
middle of the v. century that the emblem of the
* It is judged by De Rossi to be of the age of the Flavii, Trajan,
or Hadrian ; at latest, of the first Antonines.
t The T is the Egyptian cross, and is sometimes found in the
hand of Philip the Apostle. From its likeness to the crutch
borne by S. Antony, the great hermit, it is called S. Antony's
THE BASILICA 23
cross is found at the head of an inscription, but in
the catacombs it is never so used. A rare slab in the
cemetery of S. Agnese is marked with a plain Greek
cross. The croce gammata is very curious, and also
occurs in the catacombs ; it is formed by the inter-
linking of four Greek gammas (T) qj This is the
sign svastika, that is of benediction and good augury,
known to the ancients in extreme Asia. It was
adopted by the Christians to simulate the cross, on
account of its resemblance to the Phoenician form of
the letter tau i-j-I, a letter celebrated from apostolic
times as signifying the sign of the cross. This sign
was sparsely used in the 11. and still less in the iii.
century.
After the anchor o — \ O, which was un-
doubtedly used as a symbol of the cross, and such
occult allusions to the cross as a dolphin entwined
with a trident, and the tau and the gamma crosses, the
earliest representations of the obvious cross are Greek
or Latin crosses jewelled:^'- Such crosses appear in the
catacombs and in all the early mosaics.
It is not till the vi. century that the cross having
become a crucifix, is no longer a mere emblem, but an
image. Up to this time the cross is always an emblem.f
One of the earliest ways in which the cross appears is
as the sign of the cross made on the person {vide
Part II.).
In the early mosaics the cross, if portrayed at all, is
always gemmed and jewelled, and it is evident that
the early Christians were reluctant to represent it at
all. The sentiments they loved to express in art were
those of hope and promise, of joy and triumph, not
♦ When, later, crosses came to be made of precious metal, the
five gems were intended to represent the five wounds • j • .
t Mrs. Jameson marks the distinction between an object used
as an emblem to remind, or as an image to represent to ourselves
an event. The latter is a/'jV/wrf,
24 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
those of death and sorrow. They shrank from the
painfulness of the Crucifixion, especially as this form
of death was associated at that time with the shameful
death of felons ; and though the need of concealing
FLOWERED AND DECORATED CROSS FROM THE WALLS
OF THE CATACOMBS.
their beliefs under imagery ceased after the Peace of
the church, the change from the symbolic to the
actual representations of the Crucifixion was of very
slow growth, and at first the painfulness was entirely
omitted.
Carica- If we except the caricature scratched upon a wall of
uireof the ^}^g Imperial House on the Palatine,* and now in the
fixion, * This caricature, which was discovered in 1856, is a rude
III. cen- scratching upon a wall, representing a figure upon a cross dressed
tury. in a toga with an ass's head, and has given rise to much con-
troversy. The words beneath it have been variously interpreted,
the most probable reading being " Alexammus worships (his) God"
The chamber in which the scratching occurs was either a guard-
room or a boys' school-room, and it is probable that the carica-
ture was made by some boy in derision of the Christian belief of
one of his school-fellows. In a neighbouring room, discovered in
1870, the name Alexamenus occurs again, followed by the word
fdelis ; and it has been suggested that the boy scoffed at in the
caricature here makes a private profession of faith, as the
word fidelis would only be used or understood by Christians.
The date of the caricature and these graffiti is probably the time
of Septimius Severus, a.d. 197-215. See also Padre Garucci's
article in the Civilta Cattolica of 1857, and Bulletino Christ. Arch.,
1863, 1867.
THE BASILICA 25
Kircherian Museum, which is of the in. century, we
find the earhest representation of the Crucifixion upon Cruci-
a IV. century sarcophagus in the Lateran Museum, fixion on
and here the symboUc treatment is retained : Christ century
carrying a Httle cross in His hand, is being crowned garco-
with roses by a soldier. In the v. century we find phagus.
the cross adorned with flowers and gems as a sign of
triumph, and with the mystic lamb as a symbol of
the expiating victim.
Upon the famous Byzantine oil vessels presented OnByzan-
to Queen Theodolinda, a further development can be ^"^"^^ °*^
traced (vi. century). Here an angel announces the ^^^^^ ^'
Resurrection to the holy women, and above the
sepulchre is a tiny cross of flowers and the head of
the Redeemer in glory, at some distance the 2 thieves.
At the end of the v. and beginning of the vi.
century the v custom of representing the crucifixion
becomes more general; it does not occur alone, but
always as forming part of a series of scenes from the
life of Christ. Upon the doors of S. Sabina we have On doors
one of the earliest examples. Each panel represents of S. Sa-
some scene from the New Testament ; the Crucifixion "^"^-^ ^•
is depicted on the first on the left. The cross is
not visible from below, and appears to be altogether
absent. Christ stands in the attitude of an Orante
draped in a girdle only, and wears no nimbus. The
2 thieves on either hand are smaller and youthful in
type. Another instance of a similar representation
is described by S. Gregory of Tours in the church of
S. Genesius at Narbonne (vi. century).
A little later we find the figure of Christ clothed in Eastern
a long sleeveless tunic, called the colohio, in imitation usage.
apparently, of the Eastern usage. The earliest example
of this is to be found in the Syriac Gospel in the in Syriac
Laurentiana at Florence.* In this painting the cross Gospel,
is low, Christ is affixed to it by 4 nails, His feet
resting on a projection, a nimbus is round His head ;
* A copy by d'Agincourt exists in the Vatican Archives (Cod.
Vat. Lat., 984, pi. xii.).
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
In cata-
comb of
S. Valen-
tine, VII.
century.
In John
VII. s
chapel in
S. Peter's
In house
ofSS.
Giovanni
e Paolo.
In under-
churqh
ofS.
Clemente.
Changes
in the
represen-
tation of
the Cruci-
fixion.
the sun and moon are on either side, two soldiers with
the spear and sponge stand below, with the Madonna
and S. John.
Another example occurs in the catacomb of S.Valen-
tine, which is especially interesting, being the only one
at present found in any Roman catacomb. It is of the
VII. century, and occurs in a series of scenes from the
New Testament, most of which have perished.*
In this century however, the vii., the represen-
tations of the Crucifixion were not so usual as to
altogether exclude the symbolic forms, and we find
in Pope Theodore's mosaics in S. Stefano Rotondo
(642-649) the gemmed cross with the head of the
Redeemer above.
At the end of the vii. and beginning of the viii.
century, the symbolic representations disappeared alto-
gether, and a decree issued by a council in 692 enforced
the substitution of the actual for the symbolic forms, on
the ground that the latter were no longer understood
by the people.
We still find however, the Eastern form adopted.
A Crucifixion resembling that of the Syriac Gospel
existed, among other scenes, in Pope John VII. 's
chapel in old S. Peter's. Another similar painting has
recently been discovered in the church of S. Maria
deir Inferno in the Foro Romano. Another instance
exists in the house of SS. Giovanni e Paolo beneath
their church on the Coelian.
In the under-church of S. Clemente is another Cruci-
fixion of the same century, the ix., but in this case
the figure is draped in a loin-cloth only, and from this
period we begin to find it so, and at a later date it is
never found clothed. The custom of representing the
figure clothed in the tunic obtained to a later date in
the East.
Other changes followed. The most ancient traditions
exclude any signs of human weakness from the grief of
the Madonna, and in the earlier representations she is
• See Catacomb of S. Valentine, Chap. X.
THE BASILICA 27
depicted as an Orante. Later she appears overcome
with grief and distress. In the earher paintings again,
Christ is very youthful in type ; He is represented
hving, and looking upwards. Later, the dying Christ
is always depicted ; the' support for the feet is with-
drawn, and 3 nails are used instead of 4, in defiance
of the actual usage.
It is not known with precision at what epoch the
changes from the direct dignity of the early art to the
emotional realism of the later crept in ; the more cruel
details were no doubt due to an exaggerated fervour
and desire to excite piety, and were in keeping with
the more dramatic and sensational religion of the
middle ages.
Giotto and his followers have been accused of being
the authors of these changes, but they came in probably
earlier, as the crucifix of the Lateran is an example
of the later type, and is of the xi. century. The
change from the living to the dying Christ is said to
date from the x. century.
A skull is often represented on crucifixes, in allusion
to the tradition that Adam's head was buried on Mount
Calvary, whence its name Golgotha, "the place of a
skull." This Jewish tradition is cited by Origen in the
early iii. century.
CHAPTER III.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH.
Interior of a Church — Altars — The font and holy water — Reservation —
Ambones and pulpit — Lights — Iconoclastic controversy — Images and
pictures — Relics.
Altars.
The bal-
dacchino.
Cornua
altaris.
Originally as we see from the form of the primi-
tive Christian basilica, there was only one altar
in the church. But in the iv. century Ambrose
in a letter speaks of more than one altar in a church
in Milan, and Gavantus tells us that 2 centuries
later in Gaul more than one altar was to be found
in the churches. The word used by early writers, and
also in the New Testament, for the altar is thusias-
terion, a rendering of the Hebrew word, and not the
pagan word bomos. Origen, Cyprian, and Optatus all
refer to it.
The earliest altars faced the people ; they did not
always face east, at least in Rome, and when they
did so the congregation of necessity all faced west.
Side chapels cannot of course face eastwards. The
altar is always placed on a step, called the predella ; but
the high altar has three steps, the predella for the priest,
the next step for the deacon, and the lowest for the
subdeacon, the rest of the sanctuary being a plane. As
soon as basilicas were built the altar was placed under
a baldacchimim* a canopy supported on 4 columns.
The horns of the altar are its 4 angles ; four horns
* Called also ciborium from its originally dome-like shape, like
that of the bowl of a cup reversed.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 29
were placed at these corners in the Temple at Jeru-
salem (Exod. xxvii. 2). In cornu epistolcB or cornu evan-
gelii means at the Epistle side (right of spectator) or
the Gospel side (left of spectator) of the altar. In
ancient churches, where the altar faces the people, the '
Gospel side is to the right, and the Epistle to the left,
of the spectator. " At the north side " or the " south
side " does not, then, mean that the celebrant must go
round the altar, but simply that he must go towards its
Gospel (north) or Epistle (south) angle. Anciently all
actions of the bishop or priest were visible to the faith-
ful, but this was not attained by standing at one flank
or the other of the altar, but by the altar itself facing
the church and the people. The celebrant thus faced
the people neither more nor less when he stood at the
south or north " horn," than when he stood in the
centre.
All altars are draped with linen cloths ; there must Drapery,
be 3 white linen cloths for the celebration of mass,
the blessing of which is mentioned in the Gelasian
Sacramentary. The draperies in front of the altar are
called antipendia or veils ; the colour varies with the
season, and agrees with the sacerdotal vestments.
Above the altar is a step called super-altar (or
predella), it is a stand for candles or other ornaments.
This predella has often been beautifully decorated by
artists, and the fronts of altars are sometimes sculptured,
or made of mother-of-pearl.
The 3 cards on the altar contain those portions Cards.
of the mass which it is most necessary to repeat cor-
rectly, or which need not be committed to memory.
On the centre card are the Gloria in excelsis, the Creed,
prayers at the offertory, the prayer of consecration
beginning Qui pridie, the 3 prayers before Communion,
and the prayer Placeat at the end of mass. The
card on the Epistle side has the prayer said when
the water is mixed with the wine, and the psalm at the
lavabo. The card on the Gospel side has the last gospel
of S. John, which is said that side of the altar. The
30
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
rubrics only require the central card, but the addition
of the other two has become customary.
Wood and The first altars were made of wood ; stone altars are
stone. attributed to Pope Sylvester, a.d. 314, but wooden
altars were certainly used after this date, till in 517
any but stone altars were forbidden by a council. All
that is necessary, however, in order to comply with
this decree, is that a piece of stone large enough to
contain the host and chalice be placed in the centre of
every altar. This is called the pietra sacra ; it is signed
with 5 crosses.
Form. One of the very earliest forms of altar was the tomb
of the martyrs ; tombs of the arcosolia shape were used
as altars in the catacombs, the slab serving as the
altar.* Jerome asks, " Male facit ergo Romanus epis-
copus ? Qui, super mortuorum hominum, Petri et
Pauli, secundum nos, ossa veneranda . . . offert Domino
sacrificia, et tumulos eorum Christi arbitratur altaria ?"f
Does the Roman bishop do ill ? Who offers sacri-
fices to the Lord over the bones of dead men, Peter
and Paul, which we think venerable, and considers
their tombs altars of Christ ?
When the martyrs' bones were translated to the
churches, they were placed under the altars, I an allusion
to that passage of the Apocalypse, vi. 9. "I saw under-
neath the altar the souls of those that had been slain
for the word of God, and for the testimony which they
held." Altars may not now be consecrated unless they
contain relics of a martyr. According to Merati this
custom was enjoined by Pope Felix {circa 270). In
the IV. century S. Ambrose would not consecrate an
altar until relics were obtained to place in it. These
relics are placed in the pietra sacra, and are deposited
* Prudentius (348) speaks of the table-tomb of the martyr
Hippolytus being used as an altar, so that while it is the faithful
guardian of the martyr's bones, it " fills the dwellers on the Tiber
with holy food."
t Hieron. Adv. Vigilant.
J This tomb is called the Confession, anciently martyrium. See
p. 17.
Martyrs'
relics.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 31
with the words, " Underneath the altar of God ye
saints of God have received a place ; intercede for us
with our Lord Jesus Christ." Durandus* says that
the Eucharist must be placed there, when there are no
relics. Dr. Rock mentions this custom in England.
(Council of Calcuith, a.d. 816.) It is said that
S. Martin of Tours was the first non-martyr whose
tomb was made an altar.
An altar can only be dedicated to God, and there- Consecra-
fore it is wrong to speak of one as dedicated to a saint, tion and
Altars are consecrated, and anointed with chrism. This ^.^^i^^-
consecration with chrism has been performed for at
least 1500 years.
Paulinus of Nola (nat. 353) tells us that cuhicula Chapels,
were placed along the sides of the church which he
and his wife Terasia built in their place of retirement,
as burial places, and for prayer and meditation. Similar
cubicula ran along the sides of the great basilicas of
S. Peter, S. Paul, and S. Sebastian, and Muratori has
suggested that here was the origin of side chapels.
These cubicula would not at first have contained
altars. When there are not actual chapels in a church,
we frequently see altars.
" Altare privilegiata," These words are often in- Altare
scribed over altars and chapels ; they mean that Z"''^''-
•• plenary indulgence " may be gained by saying mass ^^S^"'^^-
there for some soul in purgatory. There may be
7 such altars in a church, and then unum ex septem, Unum ex
one of the seven, is written over each of the privileged septem.
altars. The mass said at these altars should be a
requiem mass. Every altar is "privileged" on the
day of the commemoration of the dead, November 2.
Outside churches in Rome the words indulgentia Indulgentia
plenaria quotidiana pro vivis et defunctis, or some abbre- P^^"'^^^'''-
viation of them, are inscribed over the door. This
means " daily plenary indulgence for the living and the
dead," or that plenary indulgence on the usual condi-
tions can be obtained there. Though these words on
* Durandus died a.d. 1296.
32
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Fonts and
holy
water.
Asperges.
The
chapel
of the
Sacra-
ment.
the churches in Rome had some meaning before the
great increase of indulgenced practices and devotions,
they have not any very definite meaning now.
On entering a church, the first thing we notice is the
stoup, or basin for holy water. The merely ritual ob-
servance of dipping the fingers in this water on entering
the church probably arose, as we have seen, from the
custom of washing in the canthams, which as a symbol
of purity and perhaps of grace used to stand in the
atrium.
In the Liber Pontificalis, Pope Alexander (109) is
made to decree the asperging of holy water in private
houses ("in habitaculis hominum ").* Holy water is
blest with salt ; it is used on many occasions, in bless-
ing objects, in the burial of the dead, and at the asperges
before mass, when it is sprinkled on the assistants and
people with a brush. At Easter time the water from
the newly blest font is placed in the stoups, and carried
away by the people who value the " Easter water."
This holy water would seem to be a figure of baptism
and regeneration.
The font is now placed immediately on entering the
church, the baptistery, in all cathedral and parish
churches, occupying the space of the first chapel to
right or left. There are examples of very early bap-
tisteries in the catacombs.!
Further on in the church is the chapel of the holy
sacrament ; in parish churches it is always reserved at
the high altar. The Host is reserved in a ciborium, or
pyx of precious metal, which is locked in the tabernacle.
The tabernacle (Ital. ciborio) is covered with silk
drapery, varying in colour with the liturgical season,
A light always burns before it. If the Host should be
removed to another altar, the light is removed and the
door of the tabernacle left open, or the drapery {pall)
is taken away.
* C/. the water of aspersion, and expiation, Num. xix.
t See external baptistery, p. 15 ; and Baptism, Part II. of the
Handbook.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 33
There has always been reservation in the Christian Reserva-
Church. The Eucharistic bread was taken home by tion.
the faithful during the period of persecution, and there
were little boxes for this purpose, called arcula ; these
have been found on the breast of Christians in the
Vatican catacomb.* Besides this, one church sent
the Eucharist to another church, one bishop to another,
and the bishop of Rome for centuries sent it to the
parish churches. (See bishops, Part IV.) The deacons
of both sexes bore it to those who were prevented from
assisting at the bishop's mass, to the infirm, and to
the confessors in prison.
Reservation in the churches arose from the same
necessity, namely the communion of the absent the
sick and the dying. At first it was reserved in a gold
or silver dove suspended under the canopy over the
altar, or in a turret-shaped vessel also suspended. It
was suspended in England in the xvi. century ; we
find among the answers given at the official enquiry
in 1576, concerning the non-attendance of the working
classes at church : " Isabel, wife of William Bow-
man, locksmith, of the parish of S. Cross, Sayeth
she cometh not to the church, for her conscience
will not serve her, because there is not the sacra-
ment hung up,f and other things as hath been afore-
time."
In the Greek rite, the Host is reserved behind the
ikonostasis but not at the altar.
In ancient churches we see an ambo (from di/a/BaivoD, Ambones
to mount) a pulpit from which the gospel was read ; and pulpit
sometimes there are 2 ambones, the second being for
the reading of the epistle. The gospel ambo is
then the more ornate, and is that to the right of the
• Tertullian (circa 150-220) thus answers the scruples of those
who feared, by receiving the Eucharist, to break the fast of the
dies stationis : " Accepto corpore Domini et reservato utrumque
salvum est." If you take the body of the Lord and reserve it, you
keep both precepts.
t The italics are ours.
3
34
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Platform.
Sedilia.
Faldstool
Credence.
Piscina.
spectator. In the Ambrosian rite (Milan) the gospel
is still read from the ambo.
In more modern churches we see a pulpit for preach-
ing, on the pattern of the ambo. The pulpit is peculiar
and proper to the Christian church and the Christian
religion. The bishop used to deliver his discourse
from a cathedra or chair, and later, priests preached
from the steps of the altar, and this is still frequently
done. The crucifix on the modern pulpit is there in
allusion to S. Paul's words : " Seeing that Jews ask
for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom : but we
preach Christ crucified,"'''
At the great preaching seasons, a platform and chair
are sometimes placed in the large churches, for the
greater convenience of preaching. A mediaeval custom
is still to be seen in the Roman churches, a discussion,
namely, between il dotto e 1' ignorante, the learned
and the stupid man : it is done by two priests, two
chairs being placed on a platform for the purpose.
L' ignorante says all the mal a propos, and the dotto
finds him easy to vanquish.
The sedilia are seats for the priest deacon and sub-
deacon, placed in the sanctuary at the Epistle side of
the altar. These three seats should be a bench, and
not three stools, according to Scamnum ; and should
be covered with green on ordinary days, and purple in
the penitential seasons. In Gothic churches they are
fixed stone seats ; in the Basilica they do not appear at
all. (See Cathedra, p. 6i.) The priest sits in the
centre, with the deacon on the right, and subdeacon
on the left.
Faldstool. (See Bishop's Mass, Part II,)
The credence table is for the service of the altar, and
is placed on the Epistle side of the sanctuary. Only
one table is used, unless a bishop celebrates in his
own diocese.
The piscina is a basin fixed into the wall by the altar ;
* I Cor. i. 22, 23. Cf. also i Cor. ii. 2, and Gal. ill. i.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 35
it has a drain in it, and is used for pouring away the
water for washings at mass. We have seen the
piscina confused with the holy water stoup, and care-
fully placed in the porch of an English church, by way
of restoration to its original position.
In all churches we see one or more confessionals, Confes-
wooden structures for the purpose of confession. There sional.
were no confessionals in the churches till the xvi.
century ; S. Charles Borromeo left ordinances regard-
ing them ; they did not however come into general
use till the next century. To this day in Ireland the
people, if the church is crowded, do not wait till the
priest reaches the confessional, but make him stop and
hear their confessions on his way up the church. Con-
fessionals were not very necessary before the xvi.
century, as for the previous three centuries, since the
ordinance of 1215, the custom of frequent confession
was almost unknown.
In the Greek Church, confes.sion is made just within
one of the two side doors of the ikonostasis.
The Roman confessional is an open woodwork stall
in two or three compartments, and this is the only
pattern used. In other countries it is closed with
doors, or may even be built in stone in the walls of
the church, with wooden doors.
Before altars, and sometimes before pictures and Lights,
images, there is often a light burning. Lights, which
had their place in the worship of the Temple, are the
most ancient of all the symbolic adornments of
churches. Assemani cites Exod. xxv. 37, and xxvii.
20, 21, in support of the custom.'^- A stand for per-
fumed oils, in which wicks were set, is often found in
the catacombs before the tombs or images of martyrs.
Prudentiust tells us how the tomb and altar of Hippo-
lytus was ablaze with lights ; and S. Paulinus of Nola
* De Veto Ecclesics Sensu.
t Pntdentius, the Christian poet, was born a.d. 348, in Spain.
He visited Rome and wrote poems on what he saw.
3—2
36
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
in the same century speaks of the brilliant lights at
the altars at a festival :
" Clara coronantur densis altaria lychnis ;
Lumina ceratis adolentur odora papyris.
Nocte dieque micant."
(The bright altars are crowned with lamps thickly set. Lights
are burned odorous with waxed papyri. They shine by night
and day.)*
Lights were also used at the same epoch as a ritual
part of the evening service of prayer. At high mass
6 candles must be lighted on the altar, at low mass
2, at Vespers 6 are required, at Benediction there must
not be fewer than 12, and when the Host is exposed
not less than 12 or 20.
In the Notitia Dignitatum Imperii tapers are mentioned
as an ensign of great dignitaries, and the Abbe
Duchesne conjectures that the custom of carrying
lights before the Gospel, and on certain occasions
before the Pope, arose in this way.
Pictures The representation of sacred persons and sacred
and subjects is coaeval with the faith ; they were repre-
Images. sented by ritual, by painting, and, less often, by
sculpture. In the East however art was confined to
painting, out of a presumed conformity to the Jewish
and Eastern law which prohibits the graving of images.
It is curious therefore that in the East the veneration
of images is much in excess of that in the West. The
prohibition to make images, which is absolute among
Musulmans, cannot certainly have been absolute for the
Hebrews, since in the Holy of Holies were figured the
two Cherubim, and the Shema and Golden Candlestick
were both set at the Holy Place, while Moses was directed
to make the image of a serpent and raise it on a rod
that all Israel might direct its gaze towards it.f
The rule in the East has always been that images
* Hymn on the Natalitia of S. Felix, a.d. 407.
t See also 3 Kings vii. (Revised Version, i Kings), which speaks
of the making of oxen, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees " in like-
ness of a man standing," etc.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 37
should be painted after one conventional pattern, and
this pattern is the Byzantine. In Russia whole
villages are devoted to the task of making the ikons for
the churches on this stereotyped pattern. In the East
also, none but the first saints and martyrs are placed
for veneration in the churches ; the ikons of our Lord
and of Mary hold the first place on the ikonostasis ;
the 12 Apostles, S. John Baptist, and the archangels
are also represented. In the West on the contrary,
there is much greater freedom of representation, though
a type, as e.g. that for the Sacred Heart, is sanctioned
when it first appears.* All the saints can be imaged ;
and their images placed in the churches and over the
altars. There is no such thing in the West as Byzan-
tinism in sacred art.
In A.D, 717-741, arose the controversy about the use Theicono-
of images. Leo the I saurian perceived that their clasts.
prohibition had been a strength in Islam, and in
730 he abolished their use. The II. Council of
Nicaea, under the auspices of the Empress Irene,
restored the veneration of images in 788, with great
solemnities. In 790 the Caroline Books of Charlemagne
and Alcuin, and in 794 the Council of Frankfort pro-
nounced decisively against the adoration [irpoa-Kvvqa-is)
of images. 1
* Constitutions of Charlemagne. And Council of Trent, session
XXV.
t Charlemagne's manifesto, which he issued with the aid of
Alcuin and other theologians, condemned all religious homage
whatever paid to images, or through images to the Person repre-
sented. It proceeds to reprove the image-breakers, especially
the fanaticism which recognised no moral difference between the
veneration of these images and that of idols. Man is not, it says,
all soul, and may lawfully be helped by the senses. It reproaches
the iconoclasts with sweeping away all with which Christendom
had made its churches beautiful, and which preserved and kindled
a lively sense of sacred persons and events in the minds of men.
The representations of Christ gave the most offence ; and it
may be said that the question involved is a close parallel to that
raised by Arianism. It has been pointed out that Arianism was
really a return to the primitive form of Hebraic monotheism.
To the Arians Christ was a creature transcending all others, but
38 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The Council of Trent defines : " Moreover, that the
images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of
the other saints, are to be had and retained particularly
in temples, and that due honour and veneration are to
be given them ; not that any divinity or virtue is
believed to be in them, on account of which they are
to be worshipped, or that anything is to be asked of
them ; or that trust is to be reposed in images, as was
of old done by the Gentiles who placed their trust in
idols " (Sessio xxv.).*
Part We know that all the early churches presented a
played by mass of colour. Old S. Peter's in Rome, and old
(^n'stlan ^* P^^^'s in London, were rich with representations of
worship, the mysteries of the faith. The images and repre-
sentations in the churches, says Signer Armellini, were
the hook of the ignorant and simple. This was es-
pecially true in the 1,400 years before the invention of
printing. But images are not only a book of fact —
they are a book of imagination ; they instruct and
restrain it. Standing round men in the churches,
they signify the undeviating attitude of the spirit in
the presence of the Eternal God, the Church's pre-
paredness and fervour compared with the individual's
inequality in spiritual things : " Domine Jesu Christe
. . . ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem ecclesia tua."
No one can have seen the earliest Christian images
without feeling that their power to fix, direct, and
compel attention was well understood. From the
pictures and inscriptions of the catacombs, we gather
that the image was definitely intended to represent for
us the watching, the vigil, of the blessed in heaven,
always a creature, only a creature, like others : and throughout
this controversy the special strength of Christianity, and the
necessary distinctions between it and every form of Islamism,
appear to have been uniformly neglected. For Christianity
differed profoundly from this system of thought; it reconciled
the two statements : " No man has seen God at any time," and :
" Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father."
* The penny catechism says : ' ' We do not pray to relics or
images, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us."
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 39
as both inspired by and suggesting the same attitude
on earth. " Trophime, vigila ; SANOIIIIII AEIM-
NE2TE rPHrOREI." (Trophimus, watch; Xantippe
always watches.)
We give the history of the crucifix-'' elsewhere. The
There is a crucifix over every altar ; and it is crucifix,
necessary for there to be one whenever mass is said.
The early representations of Christ, as we see from images of
our ancient basilicas, represent Him symbolically Christ,
under the figure of a Lamb, an emblem due to the
Apocalypse. Earlier still, it is as the Good Shepherd First ages,
only that He is directly represented, except in scenes
like that of the woman at the well, the raising of
Lazarus, the haemorrhoissa, the denial of Peter, which
occur in the paintings of the cemeteries and on the
marble sarcophagi.
In 692, the Council of Trullo, held in Constantinople, vii.
decreed that Christ, represented hitherto by the century
symbolic lamb, should in future be more fitly depicted
in a human form. While the image of Christ was not
yet openly displayed. He was represented under the Occult
various Eucharistic emblems by which He had Him- emblems,
self chosen to be commemorated.
One of the images now most frequently seen in the Sacred
churches is that of the Sacred Heart ; and many altars Heart.
and chapels are under this invocation. The image is
a figure of Christ, either in painting or sculpture,
representing Him standing, with a heart on the left
side or the centre of the breast.
The devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus Christ is
in one sense, of course, as old as Christianity, but in
the special sense of to-day it owes its immediate
origin to a French nun of the Visitation at Paray-le-
Monial, Mother Margaret Mary Alacoque,t who taught
this way of viewing the sacred person of Christ,
and in 1675 believed that He encouraged and com-
* See ante, p. 22.
t Ob. 1690 ; beatified 1864. For an account of the Feast, see
Part II.
40
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The Im-
maculate
Concep-
tion.
Pieta.
Calvary.
Mater
Dolorosa.
The Holy
Family.
Lourdes
grotto.
manded her to spread this devotion, and made her
many promises for those who should adopt it. To a
world grown old, says Mother Margaret's biographer,
she came to fulfil the prophecy of the great Gertrude,
" and teach to the world the language ... of Jesus'
heart." She made the Jesuit P^re de la Colombi^re
its apostle, and after his death in 1682, his order
supported the devotion.
Since 1854 images of the Madonna representing this
dogma, are frequently met with.
She stands on a globe, draped in blue and white,
the head uncovered, and a crown or nimbus of twelve
stars. Her foot is on the serpent (Apocalypse, xii. i).
This figure represents, the doctrine that Mary was
immaculate, that is, free from the stain of original as
well as from that of actual sin.'''
The Pieta which we often see in churches is a
representation, generally in sculpture, of our Lord,
after the taking down from the cross, resting on His
Mother's knees.
A large sculptured crucifix, with Mary and John, or
with the Magdalen, and less often with the two
thieves on either hand, is called a Calvary.
The Sorrowful Mother, or our Lady of Dolours, is
an image representing Mary as she stood by the cross,
or with a heart pierced by one or by seven arrows, in
allusion to the prophecy of Simeon.
Placing Jesus, Mary, and Joseph before us as the
model of the family is by no means a recent, but
neither is it a very ancient, conception. There is now
a confraternity of the Holy Family in most churches,
which meets for prayers at stated intervals in the
month. Hence pictures of the Holy Family are not
infrequent. A feast for Rome and its district, called
" Festivita della S. Famiglia di Gesia, Maria, e Giu-
seppe," was sanctioned by the Congregation of Rites
in 1893.
In some Roman churches may be seen a picture or
* For the origin of the Feast, see Part II.
. INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 41
Other representation of the Madonna, habited in white
and blue, standing in the Grotto at Lourdes ; round
her head are written the words which the young girl
Bernadette heard her say : " Je suis rimmaculee con-
ception," a sentence which, as it has no meaning in
French, it is not easy to translate.
For an account of the 14 pictures representing Stations of
the journey of Christ from Pilate's hall to Calvary, the Cross.
which are placed round many churches, but not round
basilicas, see Part 11.
Relics are often placed over altars in gold or silver Relics,
reliquaries, or entire chapels are set apart for the
custody of the relics, which are then exposed to view
over the altar. On feast-days gilt busts of saints are
sometimes placed on the super-altar, and these contain
relics. Any relic which the church may possess is
exposed over an altar on the feast-day, and candles
lighted. It is customary for the clergy of the church
to bow when passing this relic altar. Relics are only
given away by the bishop, who seals the relic case,
and a document accompanies it declaring that the
relic has been duly taken from the source indicated.
Nothing, of a secondary character, is more remark- Jewish
able than the change of feeling about the bodies of the feeling.
dead, in the followers of the new religion of Christ.
Under the Law of Moses, he who touched the dead,
or went into his chamber, was defiled ; and he who
touched the bones of a dead man or his grave was
defiled ; his state of legal uncleanness lasted for
seven days (Numb. xix. 11-16). The sepulchres were
whited before the Feast of the Passover, in order that
the Jews coming up to Jerusalem to the feast might
remain uncontaminated.
But to the early Christian society in Rome their
dead were sacred, and sanctified rather than defiled
those who came in contact with them. There can be
little doubt that the dreadful martyrdoms wrought
this change ; those who had looked upon these
miracles regarded the body, which had been the
42 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
instrument of this supreme witness, in a new way.
Their veneration for the martyr was boundless :
" Greater love," they remembered, " has no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friend." To
gather the relics of the martyrs was an act undertaken
by the noblest Christian women, assisted by pious
presbyters and deacons.
Early In the West, and especially in Rome, it was not per-
Christian mitted to violate the sepulchres of the martyrs. To open
feeling. their tombs, to remove, and much more to divide, their
relics was considered a profanation, Gregory the Great
gives us the account of the tomb of S. Laurence
being opened by mistake, when within ten days the
workmen and the monks who had been present all
died.''' The martyrs themselves before their death
adjured the faithful not to keep any- particle of their
ashes. De Rossi has pointed out that the inviolabihty
of the martyr's relics was a discipline of the Western
Church not only in S. Gregory's time, but for long
afterwards. When Justinian, in 519, wrote a letter to
Pope Hormisdas asking for relics of S. Laurence to
place in a church he had built, it is recited that the
request for a martyr's bones was made according to the
custom of the Greeks, "secundum morem Graecorum";
to this, in the reply, was opposed the usage of the apos-
tolic See, " consuetudinem sedis apostolicae."
The first mention we have of the removal of relics
is in the viii. century table preserved in the Grotte
Vaticane, where Paul L, when depositing the bodies of
the martyrs in the church of S. Silvestro, reserved some
relics of each, which were placed by himself or one of
his successors in the Vatican.
The " Apostolic Constitutions," which are of Eastern
origin, prove that in some parts of the East Christians
found it hard to overcome the Jewish repugnance to
relics. Speaking of the passage, " He is not therefore
the God of the dead, but of the living," the " Constitu-
tions " say : " Wherefore of those that live with God,
• Ep. 30, lib. iii.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 43
even their very relics are not without honour." " And
chaste Joseph embraced Jacob after he was dead upon
his bed ; and Moses and Joshua the son of Nun
carried away the rehcs of Joseph, and did not esteem
it a defilement. Whence you also, O bishops, and
the rest, who without such observances touch the
departed, ought not to think yourselves defiled. Nor
abhor the relics of such persons, but avoid such
observances, for they are foolish " (book vi.).
The religious history of the use of relics refers us to Religious
the Old Testament, 4 Kings xiii. 21, which records ^^^'^°''y °^
that the touch of the bones of Eliseus (Elisha) restored j-eUc^^^ °
a dead man to life ; and to Ecclesiasticus xlix., which
records that the bones of Joseph prophesied. The
New Testament records that handkerchiefs from the
body of Paul healed the diseases of the sick (Acts xix.
12) " and the wicked spirits went out of them."
S. Augustine writes : " For even now miracles are
wrought in the name of Christ, whether by His sacra-
ments or by the prayers or relics of His saints";
and he relates ten miracles which he says were
wrought through the relics of the proto - martyr
Stephen in his own time {Civitas Dei). S. John
Damascene writes : " Christ our Lord has given the
relics of the saints as health-bringing fountains." We
should not refuse credit to such wonders, he says,
since we know that water flowed from the hard rock,
and honey from the jaw of the dead lion cured
Samson. The relics of saints are not to be com-
pared to the dead bodies which defiled under the old
Law, for the author of life Himself has been inscribed
among the dead, and those bodies are not to be called
dead which heal the sick, cleanse the leper, and make
the blind to see {De Fide Orthodoxa). In this viii.
century passage is contained all which ancients or
moderns have claimed for relics. The Council of
Trent in its xxv'^ Session defined that the " Sacred
bodies of the holy martyrs, and of others Uving with
Christ, which were His living members, and the temple
44 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
of the Holy Spirit (i Cor. iii. i6), and to be by Him
raised to eternal life and glorified, are to be venerated
by the faithful."
Of what The first Roman Christians had the relics of their
relics con- confessors and martyrs all round them ; they frequently
sist. visited their tombs, they celebrated the hturgy there,
and in time burnt perfumed oils at the sites. But
those at a distance from the holy city soon desired to
possess also the bodies of the confessors of the Faith ;
even in the in. century it is said that a struggle took
place between the Eastern and Western Christians for
the bodies of Peter and Paul. When "relics" were
asked for, cloths from the bodies of the martyrs or
some instrument of their torture would be sent. The
"relics" which were preserved outside the tombs of
confessors in the Western churches, and transported
from one place to another, consisted solely of cloths
coloured with their blood, or the iron of their chains.
When the Gothic Queen Theodolinda sent to Rome
for relics, some of the oil which burnt before the tombs
in the catacombs was sent to her at Ravenna, and was
Genuine- regarded as a relic of price. Memorials of the martyrs
nessoftheand of the sanctuaries were, then, sought by those
relics. away from Rome ; and it is clear that, even when the
common sentiment permitted the violation of tombs, it
was impossible that actual relics or parts of the bodies
of martyrs could be sent in each case. The custom
was to touch the tomb with cloths, as the actual body-
cloths had been preserved before the martyrs' burial,
and send these as relics. Until the tomb of S. Peter
was finally closed up, a long pole with a handkerchief
attached used to be lowered till it touched the sar-
cophagus of the Apostle, and these cloths or brandea
were then called " Cloths from the body of S. Peter. "^'^
Theodolinda, when she had asked for a relic of the two
Apostles, indignantly rejected such a cloth sent her by
Gregory the Great ; and he then, to show that the
* To-day the minutest particle of the ashes, bones, or dress of
any saint may constitute a relic.
INTERIOR OF A CHURCH 45
essential value of a relic lay in the dispositions of him
who received it, pierced the rejected cloth with a knife,
and it appeared covered with blood. This scene is
depicted in the great mosaic in S. Peter's.
It seems more than probable that, when the early
custom and the early sentiment was forgotten, these
hrandea should have given rise to false relics : a cloth
which was but a bare memorial, was believed to have
been a part of the dress, or stained with the blood of
a martyr, and as such wonder-working ; the wonder-
working properties becoming of much greater interest
than the relic in its character of a memorial. Many
relics cannot possibly be what they are represented to
be, even had they been handed down by a careful and
critical age. The absence of communication between
place and place in the middle ages, made it possible
for two or three shrines to boast of the same relic, and
the long tradition, the celebrity, and the pious associa-
tions with such sites, have created of these places
veritable sanctuaries not to be desecrated by any amount
of criticism. The devotional visit must always be
distinct in idea and in fact from the historical visit.
CHAPTER IV.
S. Peter in Rome — The old basilica of S. Peter's — The present basilica.
S. Peter ACCORDING to ancient tradition, S. Peter made his
in Rome, first visit to Rome after his miraculous hberation
from the prison in Jerusalem, namely about the year
42 A.D.,* during the reign of the Emperor Claudius;
and upon this is founded the equally ancient tradition
of his twenty-five years' episcopate. An early visit of
the Apostle to Rome seems more than probable, and
Allardin his recent " Histoiresdes Persecutions," makes
this coincide in time with his escape from prison, and
points out that the popularity of his miraculous libera-
tion as a subject for the sculptures on ancient Christian
sarcophagi in Rome would point to a near relation
between the two events.
From the fact that no allusion is made to S. Peter's
presence in Rome in the Acts or in S. Paul's Epistle
to the Romans, we conclude that at that date Peter
was certainly not in Rome ; but this would not exclude
the possibility of a former visit, as one may accept
Signer Marucchi'sf suggestion that he may have been
obliged to leave the city under the edict of Claudius
for the expulsion of all Jews (a.d. 49).
In any case, even if Peter's first visit to Rome under
Claudius and his twenty-five years' episcopate in that
city have not been established by indisputable testi-
* This is the date also given by S. Jerome.
t Memorie del SS. Apostoli Pietro e Paolo. Roma, 1894.
5. PETER'S 47
mony although maintained by unbroken tradition, his
actual presence in Rome, a fact never doubted in the
first centuries, * is now no longer disputed by modern
criticism.
If not in Rome in a.d. 58, Peter was probably in
the city in 64, the year the great Neronian persecution
commenced, as he alludes to it in his Epistle from
Babylon, written after that date, an epistle now gener-
ally admitted to have been written from Rome, as the
real Babylon was in ruins at the time, while Babylon
was a common figurative designation of Rome among
the early Christians, being so used in the Apocalypse
(xvii. 5 ; xviii. 2).
It is impossible to believe that the circumstances S. Peter's
and place of Peter's martyrdom were not well known to martyr-
the faithful of the first centuries, and we find S. John '"■
(xxi. 18, 19) alludes to the manner of his death as to
a well-known contemporary fact. S. Clement, a dis-
ciple of Peter, makes allusion to his death in Rome in
his letter to the Corinthians,! written in a.d. 96-97.
Ignatius,! Bishop of Antioch ; Irenaeus, disciple of
Polycarp (11. century) ; Caius,§ a priest of the be-
ginning of the III. century (a.d. 200) ; Dionysius of
Corinth (a.d. 170); Origen, Tertullian,|i and Eusebius
— all writers of the first four centuries — bear testimony
to the foundation of the. Roman Church by Peter, and
to his death in Rome. The so-called " Apocryphal
* No writer doubted Peter's presence in Rome before the
Waldenses of the xiii. century. Patavinus made the first
formal denial of it in the xiv. century. Schaff admits that
it was not called in question till 1557 and 1591. Perrone points
out that none of the heretics, schismatics, or rivals of the early
Church ever called the fact in doubt, although it would have
been greatly to their interest to do so.
f For the discovery by Briennius of the text of this letter
which is referred to by Irenaeus and Eusebius, see Duchesne,
Les nouveaux Textes de S. Clement de Rome. Lyons, 1877.
\ S. Ignatii Epist. ad Rom., cap. iv.
§ Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., v. 6; ii. 25.
II Tertullian, De Pmscriptionibus , ch. xxxvi.
48 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Acts,"* erroneously ascribed to Linus, and which give
the Uves of the Apostles Peter and Paul, were probably
compiled at a later date; but they doubtless had an
historical basis. Finally, monuments have existed from
the first ages over the tombs of the Apostles in Rome,
which have been venerated in their present position
through all changes and vicissitudes, while there is an
entire absence of any notice of Peter's martyrdom and
burial elsewhere.
Date. Peter's martyrdom is said to have taken place simul-
taneously with that of S. Paul f — probably in the year
67, during the Neronian persecutions. | This persecu-
tion was the result of a disastrous fire that had destroyed
a great part of the city, and for this the Christians
were held responsible by the Emperor.
Mamer- A tradition, which however did not arise until the
tine v. century, asserts that S. Peter, after having been
prisons. for some months in the Mamertine prison at the foot
of the Capitol, was led out with S. Paul to die. It is
popularly said that they proceeded along the Via Ostia
as far as the spot now marked by a bas-relief represent-
ing their leave-taking, and from there Peter was led
back along the Via Triumphalis to Nero's circus. We
know that as a Roman citizen, Paul was exempt from
a shameful death ; but it is said Peter was crucified,
and chose the additional torture of being fastened to
his cross head downwards, that he might show his un-
worthiness to suffer the same death as his Master. ^
* Lipsius, Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha : Acta Petri, Acta Pauli.
1891.
t The Leonine Sacramentary gives the same day for the passion
of Peter and Paul, but adds tempore discrete "in different years."
The statement occurs in one of two texts of the Liber Pontificalis.
One says: "Post passionem domini anno xxviii. martyrio coro-
natur," and the other, " Hie martyrio cum Paulo coronatur."
+ Vide Tillemont, Hist.. Eccles. I.
§ Tertullian : " ubi Petrus passioni dominicae adaequatur."
Origen says: "at his own choice." Rufinus: " Ne exaequari
Domino videretur." Jerome : " with head downwards . . .
asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same way
as his Lord."
S. PETER'S 49
Nero's circus, his villa and gardens, were beyond
the Tiber, and beneath the Janiculum, in the region
called Vaticanus. The Pons Tnumphalis, afterwards
called Pons Vaticanus led to it, and the ruins of this
bridge can still be seen in the water by the side of the
present Ponte S. Angelo. Here was a temple of
Cybele, and many Etruscan tombs we learn from
Pliny.
In Nero's gardens and circus many Christians were Nero's
martyred, and burnt as torches for the amusement of circus
the Emperor,''= and here is the traditional spot of Peter's ^ ^^^
crucifixion, near the obelisk which stood in the centre
of the circus, f This obelisk was the only one which
remained standing through the devastations of the
middle ages, being removed to its present place by
Sixtus V.
The circus occupied roughly, the position of the
present piazza of S. Peter's, its length parallel with
the basiUca, and its width occupying the space between
the modern sacristy and the German Campo Santo ;
the original position of the obelisk is marked by a slab
in the pavement, and the spot of Peter's martyrdom .-
would correspond to the altar of SS. Simon and Jude
in the church.
Some writers believe Peter to have been martyred
on the Janiculum ; but this is unlikely. It is more
probable that he suffered upon the same spot as the
first Christian martyrs — in the suburbs of the city, as
was usual — and not upon the Janiculum, which was
within the walls of Severus, and crowned by a fortress.
The nauniachia of Domitian mentioned in the " Acts " was
the tract of marshy ground between the Vatican and
S. Angelo, and here stood the traditional terebinth-tree.
After his death, the body of Peter was probably laid
• Tacitus, Annali, xx. 44.
t " Inter duas metas, sub Terebintho, prope Naumachiam, in
Vaticano, juxta obeliscum Neronis in monte, juxta Palatium
Neronianum, in territorio triumphali." The site is so described
in the " Acts."
4
50
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
in some spot close by, and we know from the inscrip-
tions found, that a place of burial existed near Nero's
circus, and divided from it by a public road. A portion
Vatican of the cemetery was pagan, but part was possessed
cemetery, by the Christians, and had probably already served
for the victims of Nero's persecution. The classical
style of the inscriptions from this cemetery shows it to be
of the highest antiquity, and the representations of the
anchor and fish found upon them have been judged by
De Rossi to be some of the earliest examples in exist-
Two sar- ence. One of the most ancient Christian sarcophagi,
cophagi that to Livia, now in the Louvre, is marked with the
|?^"P" Good Shepherd and the sheep, between a fish and an
LI VIA WCARVd
LIVIAE PRIKITIVAE
SO-ROM FECIT
V • AN • xxiiii • M • vini
Good Shepherd (j. ^T^S-,
and 2 Sheep '
LIVIA NICARUS TO LIVIA PRIMITIVA, HER SISTER, WHO LIVED
24 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS.
anchor ; and was one of those grouped round the
Apostle's sarcophagus.
The following also comes from here : At the top of
the stone is a wreath, and below this D M. The line
beneath this contains the Greek words :
ixexc z&)NTg)N*
In the next line is an anchor between two fish. The
(incomplete) inscription to L icinia A mias follows. Icthus
zontdn, "icthus of the living," i.e.^ the meat (fish) of
those who live, the Christian sign placed beneath the
* Found T870. Date, end of ii. or beginning of in. century.
S. PETER'S 51
pagan letters Di Manibus (D M), alludes undoubtedly
tothe words : " He that believeth on me, though he
die yet shall he live," and "I am the living bread . . ,
if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever "
(John xi. 25 and vi. 51). De Rossi supposes that, owing Grave-
to the nature of the soil, the Vatican cemetery con- tombs,
sisted of pits or wells, in the walls of which were cut
large loculi. These sepulchral wells are very rare ;
some exist in the catacomb of S. Agnes, four in the
crypts of Lucina, and a few examples are found in
area pavements, on the surface of the soil.
Pope Anencletus (gi-io6), according to the Liber Cella
Pontificalis, constructed a sepulchral monument over memoriae
the grave of the Apostle (" Hie memoriam B. Petri
construxit "), where he also was to be laid, " since he
had been ordained a presbyter by Peter." Such a
memorial chamber {cella memoria) above the tomb was
usual among the Romans, and being a locus religiosus,
although Christian was inviolable by Roman law.
The chamber was no doubt above ground in the open
air, and visible to all ; for so Caius, the contemporary
of Eusebius, talks of it in his dispute with the Mon-
tanists in the beginning of the iii. century — the
tropaa apostolorum. So does Eusebius, in his account
of the martyrdom of Tranquillinus, surprised and
stoned while praying at the tomb of Peter.
The old itineraries of the vi. and vii. centuries
describe the tomb of Peter, to the west, near the
Via Cornelia, at the first mile ;* with the interesting
addition that at this spot the Vatican cemetery
which doubtless grew round the primitive sepulchres,
became the official burial place of the popes for the
first two centuries, the popes from Linus to Victor
(193) being buried here, after which date the papal
* Also William of Malmesbury: "Via Cornelia, Prima Porta
Cornelia quae modo porta S. Petri et Via Cornelia. Juxta earn
ecclesia beati Petri sita est in qua corpus eius jacet, auro et
lapidibus parata. Etenim nullus hominum scit numerum SS.
MM. qui in eadem ecclesia pausant."
4—2
52
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Excava-
tions of
the
Vatican
cemetery.
cemetery was transferred to the Via Appia until the
Peace of the church, Leo I. (440) being the first pope
to be again buried in the Vatican.
The position of the tombs of the Apostles in Rome
is spoken ®f by Optatus Milevius in his arguments
against the Donatists''= in the iv. century : " Memoriae
apostolorum in urbe Roma"; by S. Jerome,! who
describes the tomb of Peter as venerated by all
Christendom ; and by Prudentius,]; whose description
of the tombs of both Apostles shows that they occupied
the same position as now.§
Finally, during excavations in the xvi. century
for the foundations of the present baldacchino of
S. Peter's, the remains of this ancient cemetery were
discovered.
Severano j j and Torrigio, eye-witnesses, give an account
of the many Christian sarcophagi then found. The
tombs of great antiquity were grouped closely together
in the spot now marked by the confession and high
altar. Some of the sarcophagi, of terra-cotta, were
filled with masses of burnt bones, fragments of glass
vessels and cinders, possibly the relics of the martyrs
of Nero's persecution, gathered and buried here by the
faithful. In others, were bodies clothed in long gar-
ments, or wrapped in crossed bands, as we see Lazarus
represented on the early Christian sarcophagi. Gold
threads and traces of embroidery and gold work were
still to be detected in the wrappings of some of the
bodies, and upon one sarcophagus was the simple in-
scription Linus, the Pope who according to the
Liber Pontificalis, was buried by the body of Peter
(" juxta corpus b. Petri in Vaticano "). In a sepulchral
chamber at a still lower level, the sarcophagus of Peter,
with the gold cross of Constantine upon it, was seen
* De Schismate Donatistarum, ii. 2.
t De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, cap. i.
I Peristeph, Hymn xii.
§ For the evidence for the burial of S. Peter in the Vatican,
see Borgia, Vaticatia Confessio B. Petri. Rome, 1776.
II Le Setie Chiese.
S. PETER'S 53
by Cardinals Bellarmine and Antonianus, and by Pope
Clement VI II,, but was again walled up, for fear of
profanation.
No vestige is visible of the primitive sepulchre of Sepul-
the Apostle, all trace having been destroyed by the ^^^^ ^^^^
buildings erected at a later period. The sepulchral p^^gj.
cell of Peter formed the confession of the ancient
basilica, and was, in all probability, accessible till the
v. century, when, during the invasion of the bar-
barians, it was walled up for safety. Whether it was
accessible again at a later date is uncertain. There
certainly existed a rectangular well beneath the high
altar of the older church, through which the pilgrims
could look down into the chamber beneath, but all
was walled up and entirely hidden during the Saracen
invasion and sack of 846, and nothing further was
known of the tomb until the excavations of 1594. The
present floor of the crypt of S. Peter's, the so-called
Grotte Vaticane, was the pavement of the older church,
and the sepulchral chamber would thus be behind and
below the altar of the crypt, some 40 feet beneath
the pavement of the present church.
It is narrated in the " Apocryphal Acts," and also Removal
asserted by Jerome, Damasus, and Gregory, and the ?{^y^
martyrologies of the vii. century, that the bodies j^^^^ °
of the Apostles were "removed from their primitive Apostles,
sepulchres and deposited upon the Via Appia In a
catacomb. Tradition asserts that shortly after Peter's
death the Eastern Christians, who regarded him as
peculiarly their own, broke open the tomb, and carried
off the body, leaving Rome by the Appian Way.
Three miles beyond the city a storm of great violence
overtook them, and overcome with fear, they allowed
the Roman Christians to regain possession of the body
of the Apostle, which was laid in a catacomb close by,
in the region known as " ai catacumbas." On the other
hand, the calendar of Furius Filocalus gives June 29,
258, as the Deposition of Peter at the Vatican and Paul
on the Via Ostia, and an entry in the Liber PontificaUs
54 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
asserts that the matron Lucina removed the bodies
from the catacomb " by night " — Corpora apostolorum
Petri et Pauli de catacumbas levavit noctu. We thus
have several conflicting statements, which have been
to a great extent reconciled by De Rossi's discovery
at Berne of a codex of the Hieronymian martyrology,
in which is the following entry for the third kalends of
July (June 29) : Rotnoe natalis Petri et Pauli apos-
tolorum, Petri in Vaticano, Pauli vero in Via Ostiense,
utriusque in catacumbis passi sub Nerone Tusco et Basso
consulibus. " At Rome, on the feast of Peter and
Paul Apostles — of Peter in the Vatican, and Paul on
the Via Ostia, and of both in the catacombs suffered
under Nero, Tuscus and Bassus being consuls." This
passage should obviously read after the word ' ' apostles ' ' :
" suffered under Nero — of Peter in the Vatican and
Paul on the Via Ostia, and of both in the Catacombs,
Tuscus and Bassus being consuls." Tuscus and
Bassus were consuls in 258, the great year of persecu-
tion under Valerian, when the cemeteries of the church
were confiscated, and when Lucina may have moved
the bodies of the Apostles "by night " from the Vatican
and the Via Ostia to the catacomb on the Via Appia
for greater safety, and not from the catacomb, as the
entry in the Liber Pontificalis states. The spot
where the bodies of the Apostles were laid, known as
Platonia. Platonia, is beneath the basilica of S. Sebastian, and
was long venerated as the temporary resting-place of
the bodies of Peter and Paul, and is still shown as
such. They lay here for one year and seven months,*
and were probably restored to the Vatican and the
Via Ostia by Pope Dionysius, the Christians having
been granted their ancient rights by the Emperor
Gallienus, after Valerian's death. Whether this was
• This pericxi is mentioned in one of the Lectiones for S. Peter's
Day, used in the French churches, also in the "Apocryphal
Acts." The itineraries of the vii. and viii. centuries give forty
years as the period that the bodies lay on the Via Appia, but the
authority for this statement is unknown.
S. PETER'S 55
the one and only time that the bodies were moved,
all the accounts referring to this same period ; or
whether they were moved at an earlier date also, soon
after the martyrdom of the Apostles, is a much-dis-
puted point. In any case, after their final restoration
to the primitive sepulchres in the iii. century, we have
no record that the tombs were ever again disturbed.
Peace was finally restored to the Chuych by the Basilica of
Emperor Constantine, and the unanimous voice of Constan-
tradition maintains that he caused to be built over the ti"^-
tombs of the Apostles at the Vatican and on the Via
Ostia two magnificent basilicas, and it is recounted
that he divested himself of his robes and himself dug
twelve spadesful of earth for the foundations of the
great church to be built over Peter's body. He further
decorated the sarcophagi of the Apostles with golden Sarco-
crosses, that upon the sarcophagus of Peter bear- phagus of
ing an inscription, in which his own name appears P^ter.
with that of his mother Helena, but of which part
only has been preserved by Petrus Mallius.^'- The
ancient basilica of S. Peter's which for its magnifi-
cence and richness was the wonder of the civilized
world, was thus erected in the iv. century. The
circus of Nero was in great part destroyed to furnish
materials for its construction, its north wall serving as
a substructure for the south wall of the new church ;
and in its destruction eleven hundred years later many
stones were found bearing the inscription '^ Constantimis
D NJ" The church was built in the pure basilica form,
its exterior simple and unadorned, as we still see in the
basilicas of Rome. It was approached by a wide
atrium, surrounded by porticoes, and measuring
212 feet by 235 feet. Here, among other illustrious Atrium,
persons, were buried Conrad King of Mercia, and
Offa of Essex, who came to Rome and took the
cowl, and Cadwalla, King of Wessex, who, " forsak-
ing all for the love of God," as we learn in the in-
* See also Mecchi, La Tomba di S. Pietro e V inscrizione della
Croce d' Oro. Roma, 1893.
56 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
scription placed on his tomb by Sergius I. (689), made
a pilgrimage to Rome to be baptized, and there died.*
Steps. A flight of thirty-five steps led up to the atrium from
the piazza below. Pilgrims ascended these upon their
knees, and it is said that Charlemagne did the same
on his memorable visit in 774. On the wide platform
at their summit emperors were received by the popes
before their coronation. Symmachus (498) enlarged
and restored these steps, and added a covered portico
at either side for the convenience of pilgrims.
Porticoes. An unbroken series of porticoes or covered colon-
nades united S. Peter's with the other great basilicas.
The portion from S. Peter's to the Ponte S. Angelo,
where it was entered by an imposing gateway, was
called the Portico Maggiore. Here it joined other series,
extending to S. Lorenzo Fuori, and two miles beyond
the walls to S. Paolo. The ruins of these porticoes
were still to be seen in the xiv. century, and their
course is marked by the Via de'Pellegrini, " road of
the pilgrims." These porticoes, along which we are
told poured a continuous stream of pilgrims day and
night, were especially devoted to sellers of religious
pictures, and objects of devotion, called Paternostrari,
and a street in the vicinity of S. Peter's is still called
" dei Coronari" (of the Rosaries). The practice still
prevalent, of setting up little stalls of cheap religious
pictures, images and rosaries at the church doors on
feast-days may be a relic of this ancient custom.
The precincts of old S. Peter's seem to have been
the centre for the civic, mercantile, and social activity
of the Roman citizen of that day. Thus we learn from
contemporary sources that the piazza before the
church was thronged with stalls. Vendors of food, of
gold ornaments, as well as of objects of devotion, sat
with their wares even in the atrium of the church.
Paradisus. This atrium was commonly called Paradisus, from its
having been decorated with flowers and ferns, and
we find "the place of the fig-sellers in paradise " loca
* Bede, Ecclesiastical History.
5. PETER'S 57
vendentium ficus in paradiso. There was even a Jew
a seller of Syrian wares, who sat at his stall " under
the image of the Saviour."*
The entrance to the atrium through bronze doors
was flanked by two columns, which now decorate the
fountain erected by Paul V. on the Janiculum. Beneath
the portico was a marble statue of Peter.
Pope Damasus further placed in the centre of the Fountain
atrium a magnificent fountain. In its centre was the of
huge gilded bronze pine cone from the summit of ^^.masus.
FOUNTAIN OF DAMASUS.
Hadrian's mausoleum, but which was popularly said
to have come from the roof of the Pantheon, and this
error led to the name della Pigna being given to that
whole district. Water is said to have gushed through
openings in the pine cone. Above, was a cupola of
bronze upon columns of porphyry. Water also flowed
from the bronze peacocks, which with the pine cone,
can still be seen in the court della Pigna in the Vatican
palace.
* Cens. Bas. Vatic, 1384.
58 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Doors, Five doors led into the church itself from the
entrance court.* The central one was the so-called
Porta Argentea, so named from its silver decorations
of the VI. century. The names of the cities given
by Charlemagne to the pope were later inscribed upon
these doors in letters of silver. These were replaced
by Eugenius IV. (1431) by bronze doors which were
removed to the modern church, and can still be seen
at its main entrance. The two doors on the right of
the Porta Argentea, were the Porta Romana for women,
and the Porta Guidonea, or Pilgrims' Gate, so called
from the guidones, or guides stationed within it, who
could speak the Lombard dialect, and who accom-
panied the pilgrims. On the left of the central entrance
were the Porta Ravignana, or Ravennate, for the in-
habitants of Trastevere, called Ravennati during the
middle ages, and the Porta Giudizia, through which
the bodies of the dead were carried. Near this latter
was a small door called the Porta Anticha, which was
opened only once in a century at the termination
of the jubilee. It was small and narrow, to remind
the faithful of the words of Christ, " Strive to enter by
the narrow gate." In the pontificate of Sixtus IV.
(1471) however, the use of this door was abandoned
owing to the casualties that occurred in the crowding
through it in jubilee years, and a wider door was then
made, which has since been called the Porta Santa.
Interior The old basilica which extended, roughly speaking,
of old from within the present doors to just beyond the bal-
basi ica. dacchino, consisted of a wide nave divided from the
^^®' aisles by a double row of ninety-six antique columns
of various orders, in capital and base, some of marble
and some of granite. Two of these which formerly
stood nearest the door, of rare African marble, cut and
shortened, now flank the main entrance to the present
* For the most ancient description of S. Peter's, see Petrus
Mallius Historia Basilica aniiqiia S. Petri in the Codex Vat.
3627 of the xn. century. Also that of Maphius Vegius, Canon
of S. Peter's, edited by the Bollandists.
A. Circus of
Nero.
B. Obelisk.
C. Wall of pre-
sent church.
D. Atrium.
E. Fountain of
Damasus.
F. Statue of
Peter.
G. Nave.
H. Aisles.
1. Cathedra.
K. Confession.
L. Tribune.
M. Transept.
N. Baptistery.
PLAN OF S. PETER S.
6o
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Pave-
ment.
Tribune.
Mosaics.
portico. Light entered through arched windows in the
high walls above the columns, showing the rough
rafters of the horizontal roof. The size of the church
was 395 feet in length, and 212 feet in width. It
covered an area of 1 14,000 square feet. Its nave was
80 feet across, twice the average width of a Gothic
cathedral.
The floor was paved with slabs of white marble
from the circus, replaced later by a pavement of
marble, porphyry and serpentine, fragments of which
can still be seen in the crypt.
The nave terminated in a great semicircular tribune
with throne and seats for the clergy. Of the seven
porphyry steps which led to it, two remain in the same
position to-day. On the arch of the tribune was the
celebrated mosaic representing Constantine presented
to the Saviour by Peter, and offering Him a model of
the church he had built. Beneath was the inscription :
' ' Quod duce te mundus surrexit ad astra triumphans
Hanc Constantinus victor tibi condidit aulam."
Confes-
The mosaics of the apse were renewed by Innocent III.
(iigS) and finally demolished by Sixtus V.*
The tribune arch was spanned by a beam upon
which was a great cross between two keys, and beneath
hung the gigantic lamp called Pharos,! containing, it
is said, 1,300 lights, which was lit up on Christmas
Day, at Easter, and for the Feast of Peter and Paul.
The confession was reached by two flights of steps,
and was surrounded by twisted marble columns, eight
of which we now see in the loggia of relics in S. Peter's,
* The inscription of Constantine in the apse is still preserved
in the Einsiedeln Codex :
" Justitise sedes fidei domus aula pudoris
Haec est quam cernes pietas quam possidet omnis
Quae patris et filii virtutibus inclyta gaudet
Auctoremque suum genetoris laudibus acquat."
t Said to have been stolen in the Saracen sack in 846.
S. PETER'S 6i
and two in the chapel of the Sacrament.* Successive
popes vied with each other in the decorations they
lavished upon the shrine of the Galilean fisherman.
The whole confession was lined with silver by
Sixtus III. (432-440), and then paved with silver by
Adrian I. (772). A silver beam supporting silver
figures of the Apostles was replaced by a gold beam
and figures by Pope Zacharias, while candelabra, lamps
and crosses of gold and silver without number were
presented to the shrine, even King Theodoric and
Belisarius making valuable gifts. f
Pope Damasus repaired the sepulchral chamber of
the Apostle it is said, and collected the water from
the streams which intersected the Mons Vaticatius, to
feed a baptistery he built beside the basilica.]: The
inscription which Damasus placed within the bap- Baptis-
tistery is preserved in the crypt of S. Peter's. Here tery.
stood the famous chair of Peter, upon which sat the
Bishops of Rome to receive and confirm the newly
baptized. § So celebrated did it become that the bap-
tistery itself became known as Cattedra Apostolica.
The .chair of Peter, moved from the baptistery in the
VI. century, was placed in various chapels and is
now enclosed in the bronze throne in the tribune of
S. Peter's. It is held by tradition to be the chair upon chair of
which Peter sat, and it is undoubtedly one of the most Peter,
ancient thrones in existence. j| It is composed of two
portions, of four legs of yellow oak, worm-eaten and
chipped by the pilgrims who carried away bits as relics,
and a seat and back of acacia wood. This part is of
* Said to have been brought from Greece, but probably Roman
work of the ui. century. An eleventh column stands in the
chapel of the Piet^.
t The panels of the shrine decorated by Giotto can still be
seen in the Stanza Capitolare of S. Peter's.
I The same source to-day supplies the pope's apartments.
§ It is so described by Optatus Milevius in his work against
the Donatists, and by Tertullian, De Prescript., cap. xxxvi.
II It was last shown in 1867, when a careful description was
given by De Rossi (BuUetino for June and July, 1867).
62 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
another and later period, and is ornamented with ivory
panels carved to represent the labours of Hercules and
the constellations. At the back of the chair a crowTied
emperor is represented, possibly Charlemagne, with
two angels. De Rossi conjectures that this acacia
portion may have been a Byzantine throne presented
to the Pope in the ix, century, and incorporated
with the older and already existing chair of Peter.
The whole is in the form of a sedan-chair, or sedia
gestatoria, to be carried upon the shoulders of four or
more bearers, a custom introduced by the Roman
senators in the time of Claudius.
In each century additions, restorations, and decora-
tions were planned and carried out by the popes.
Honorius I. (625) covered the whole of the basilica
with gilt bronze tiles ruthlessly torn from the temple
of Venus and Rome. Gregory IV. (827) adorned the
fa9ade with mosaics; Adrian I. (771) added a bell
tower to the side of the atrium overlaid with silver and
gold, the first of the kind in Rome ; and Zacharias
(741) introduced the custom of hanging costly silken*
draperies between the columns of the nave, a custom
which has come down to us in the Roman habit of
festooning and covering the nave pillars with crimson
cloth and tinsel on feast-days.
Chapel of The interior of the old basilica was magnificent
John VII. with gold, silver and mosaic ; 700 lights burnt per-
petually at the fifty-two altars and chapels. One of
the most beautiful and most frequented of these was
the chapel of the Praesepio, added by John VII. (705-
708). Of the beautiful mosaic decoration of this chapel
we still possess a few fragments in the crypt, a portion
in S. Maria in Cosmedin, and in S. Maria Novella in
Florence.
The Here John VII. placed the ancient picture of Christ
" Vero- known as the Veronica, as we learn from an inscription
nica."
* A manufactory of embroidered stuffs existed near S. Peter's
from the time of Leo IV., and the custom of dressing wooden
dolls in rich draperies dates from this time or earlier.
S. PETER'S 63
Still extant and preserved in the crypt. The tradi-
tional history of this picture is as follows : Tiberius
being afflicted with leprosy heard of the " miracles
wrought by the magician Jesus," and sent for Him to
cure his disease, but his messenger was delayed on
the road, and only arrived in Jerusalem to hear of the
death of Jesus. He returned however to Tiberius,
with the cloth of the pious matron Veronica, upon
which Christ had left an impression of His face on
His way to Calvary. On seeing this, Tiberius burst
into tears and fell upon his face, and his leprosy w^as
healed. Veronica herself brought the portrait to Rome,
and upon her death bequeathed it to Pope Clement.
This story was believed as early as the time of Eusebius
and Tertullian, and the portrait was exhibited from
the VII. century. It was often placed upon Roman
coins with the inscription : Sanctam sive tit dicunt, sanctum
Veronicam, and in a Bull of Eugenius IV. it is called
simply the Sanctam.*
Changes outside the basilica of S. Peter's grew con- Vatican
temporaneously with those within. Houses, buildings township,
of every description sprang up around it ; churches,
convents, schools, hospitals for the poor, houses and
baths for pilgrims of every nationality, dwellings for
the clergy, crowded round the hallowed precincts, until
the Vatican district became a populous little township.
The Lombards possessed the church of S. Maria in
Campo Santo with a burial-ground round it ; the
English owned a church and cemetery, supported by
taxes raised for the purpose by the King of Wessex,
and as their possessions and dwellings increased, the
whole region on the Tiber banks came to be called Borgo.
Burgus Saxonium — town of the Saxons. f
For greater security, and as a protection against the Leonine
invasion of the Saracens, Leo IV. enclosed the whole city.
Vatican township within fortified walls, built by Saracen
* An antique chest was long shown in the Pantheon, in which
it is said the picture was once kept.
t Hence the present name of this district, the Borgo.
64 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
captives, and it has ever since been known as the
Leonine City. One of the most ancient of the buildings
Templum within this region was the so-called Templum Probi,
Probi. the sepulchral chamber of the Probi, among the first
of the senatorial families to embrace Christianity.
Here were the sarcophagi of Faltonia Proba, and of
the Senator Probus who died in 395 ; the latter is in
the chapel of the Pieta in S. Peter's ; that of Junius
Bassus, of another branch of the same family, ob. 358,
is in the crypt. Close by, Stephen II. (752) erected a
S. Petro- chapel to S. Petronilla, in fulfilment of the promise to
nilla. King Pepin that in return for his assistance against
the Lombards, the body of this saint should be moved
from the catacomb of S. Domitilla''' to the Vatican.
The chapel was built within the ancient mausoleum of
Honorius, and the sarcophagi of that Emperor, of
Valentinian III., and of other members of his family,
were walled up and lost sight of until the sixteenth
century. The chapel of Petronilla was placed under
the patronage of the kings of France, and upon its
destruction their patronage was transferred to the altar
of Petronilla in the present church. An ancient oratory
of S. Andrew long did duty as sacristy to the new
basilica, and portions of its mosaics are still preserved
in. the modern building.
The Vatican and S. Peter's were under the protec-
tion of Austria, and it was the custom for the em-
perors and P'rankish kings to pay a visit to the shrine
of Peter before making their triumphal entry into
Rome, an example first set by Theodoric the Goth.
As the centuries succeeded one another, pilgrims of
every nationality and of every grade flocked in thou-
sands to visit the shrine of the Apostle, bearing with
them gifts and offerings, so that the Vatican coffers
Sackings, became filled with treasure. It is said that the dona-
tions of pilgrims alone amounted to over 30,400 gold
florins yearly. The costly and magnificent decora-
tions of the church, and the priceless objects of art
* See Chap. X.
S. PETER'S 65
which it contained, fell over and over again a prey to
the enemies of Rome and her invaders. The basilica
of S. Peter and that of S. Paul, although outside the
city walls, were spared by the Goths when they be-
sieged Rome in 410 under Alaric," but they fell victims
to the Vandals, and were sacked by the Saracens and
the Lombards, and during the insurrection against Inno-
cent VII. (1404), when the archives were scattered about
the streets. The last time was in 1526, when Cle-
ment VII. fled to the Castel S. Angelo, and the Vatican
was given over to pillage by the soldiers of Charles V.
for nine months.
Of this historical and magnificent basilica of S.
Peter's nothing now remains but isolated and discon-
nected fragments. It lasted for 1,150 years, w^hen the
walls began to settle down on the side where the
masonry of Nero's circus had been retained, and, judg-
ing restoration impossible, Pope Nicholas V. deter-
mined upon the construction of a new church.
New S. Peter's was begun in 1450, but 176 years New
elapsed before it was completed and finally consecrated S. Peter's,
by Urban VIII. in 1626 ; a period extending over the
reigns of forty-three popes, and during which at least
ten architects were in succession employed on the
work. The first design for the new basilica was by Rosse-
Rosselino, a Florentine, and was that of a Latin cross lino's
planned on so colossal a scale that the choir and tran- design,
septs would have enclosed the old church. This pro-
ject was brought to an end when the walls of the
tribune were but a few feet high, by the death of
Nicholas V. ; and his successor Paul II. did nothing
to further the work. It was resumed almost fifty years
* A story is told of the Goths coming upon the dwelling of an
old woman who had devoted her life to the service of the altar.
When her house door was forced, she showed them a store of
treasure, the "consecrated vessels belonging to S. Peter," and
warned the barbarians against the sacrilege of touching them.
Alaric commanded that all should be carried to the basilica of
S. Peter.
5
66
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
later by Julius II., who thought that a church built
upon so magnificent a scale would be an appropriate
spot in which to place the huge mausoleum being
then constructed by Michael Angelo for his ashes.
Bramante. The work was resumed ah initio in 1506, and Bra-
mante was chosen, from other competitors, as archi-
tect. His design, with those of his rivals, may still be
seen in the Uffizi gallery at Florence. He began by
pulling down Rosselino's walls, as he intended to build
an immense dome similar to that of the Pantheon,
supported upon four pillars, around which should be
three tribunes, each tribune being surmounted by a
cupola, a plan that has been adhered to in the main
by subsequent architects. Julius H. laid the founda-
tion stone of this new building in 1506, where we now
see the statue of S. Veronica, and the work thus begun
was continued by his successor Leo X., but not with-
out various vicissitudes and changes of design and
plan.
In 15 14 Bramante died, after having completed the
four piers of the dome and the transept arches, and he
Raphael, was succeeded as architect by Raphael, who drew out
new plans, but dying in 1520, was able to do little
more than strengthen the work already begun. After
Peruzzi. his death, Baldassare Peruzzi"'' was called in, who
changed the design to that of a Greek cross. The
work received a check upon the death of Leo X., and
under his successors, Adrian VI. and Clement VII.,
Peruzzi was able only to complete the tribune.
In 1534 Paul III. became Pope, and upon the death
Sangallo. of Peruzzi, in 1536, Antonio Sangallof was appointed
architect of the building. Sangallo retained the plan
of a Greek cross, and made a complete model of
the church he proposed to build, which is still pre-
served. His design would have avoided many of the
obvious defects of the actual St. Peter's, although it
was severely criticised at the time for being too Gothic
in style. He died before his plans could be carried
* Lived from 1481-1536. t 1470-1546.
S. PETER'S 67
out, and his successor Giulio Romano,* took up the Giulio
work, but died in the same year, Romano.
In 1546 Paul III. called in Michael Angelo,f then Michael
in his seventy-second year. Being offered so many Angelo.
thousand ducats on the completion of the work, he
replied that he would take no payment, but would do
it " for the love of God, the Blessed Virgin, and S.
Peter," and his plans were out in fifteen days. It is
probable that Michael Angelo was unable to alter very
materially the plans of his predecessors ; but he per-
severed in the work, in spite of discouragements,
intrigues and jealousies, and changes in the administra-
tion, which more than once threatened to drive him
in despair from the task he had undertaken, and bring
the work entirely to an end. He enlarged the tribune
and transepts, and strengthened the piers, and con-
structed the dome upon a new plan. " On that Greek
cross," he said, " I will throw up into the sky the
Pantheon." The drum was finished, with drawings
and plans for the completed dome, w^hen Michael
Angelo died in 1564, at the age of eighty-nine ; and
from this time for twenty-four years the building was
neglected, and left exposed to the effects of wind and
weather.
Finally, in 1590, the dome was completed by Giacomo
Giacomo della Porta;]: during the pontificate of^®'^^
Sixtus v., although it had to be more than once ^°^^^-
strengthened at a later date. Up to this time the
plans of Michael Angelo had been carefully adhered
to. The fa9ade and portico yet remained to be finished,
and the latter was to have been after the style of
Agrippa's portico to the Pantheon, with ten pillars
standing free from the fa9ade, and a second row — more
forward — of four pillars. This design, with the church
in the form of a Greek cross, would have rendered
the whole dome visible from the piazza, and its great
size and height would have been more apparent.
Fontana proposed some alterations of this portico, but
* 1492-1546. t 1475-1564 + 1541-1604.
5—2
68 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
nothing was done towards its completion until the
Maderno. pontificate of Paul V., who employed Carlo Maderno/'^
a very inferior architect, upon the death of Delia Porta,
in 1604, and Michael Angelo's design was finally
abandoned.
The original design of a Latin cross was adopted,
the nave was prolonged, and the present fa9ade and
portico built, to which latter great objection has
always been taken from its heaviness and want of
proportion. By Michael Angelo's design, part of the
ground covered by the old basilica, containing the
tombs of many popes and hallowed by many memories,
would have been left outside the new building. His
proposed nave was also not considered large enough
for the immense gatherings of the faithful to be held
in this, the greatest of Christian churches ; and finally,
no provision had been made by him for the papal
benediction, urhis et orbis ; and these considerations led
to the abandonment of Michael Angelo's design, and
the completion of the church as it now stands.
Paul V. had the remaining portions of the old
basilica pulled down. The nave, portico and fa9ade
were finished in 1614, and the basilica was finally
consecrated by Urban VIII. on November 18, 1626,
on the 1300th anniversary of the day when Pope
Sylvester is said to have consecrated the original
church.
Bernini added the piazza, with its circular colon-
nades and its fountains in 1667, and the sacristy was
erected in the pontificate of Pius VI., in 1780.
The cost of the building amounted to ^10,000,000,
and it was to meet this enormous expense that
Julius II. and Leo X. resorted to the sale of in-
dulgences, which through the evil zeal of Tetzel
produced so immense a scandal in Germany, and
became one of the causes of the religious movements
of that century.
The great church of St. Peter's was unfortunately
• 1556-1629.
S. PETER'S 69
built at a period when architecture was in a bad and
transitional state ; when the classical ideal and the
Gothic influence were warring against each other.
And although the best architects of the time were
employed in its construction, although no money was
spared, and although the best, as well as the most
costly and beautiful materials were used in its
decoration, it is full of the most obvious defects, and
has always been subjected to the most severe criticism.
The great beauty of the dome rising from the centre Exterior,
of the three tribunes of the west end cannot be
adequately appreciated owing to the flatness of the
roof around it, which does not allow its base to be
seen, except from a considerable distance, and this
defect is of course increased by the prolongation of
the nave.
The exterior decoration, which consists of gigantic
pilasters of Corinthian order placed at intervals, has
been much criticised. The pilasters are obviously
useless and meaningless, and the profusion of niches,
and the three or four tiers of windows between each,
with their indifferent ornamentation, gives the whole
the appearance of a palace, and not of a church.
The gigantic pilasters are also found in the interior,
and in the nave are obviously too high for the height
of the vaulting, and give a clumsy and dispropor-
tionate appearance to the whole. The pilasters were
designed bj"- Bramante, but as he intended to introduce
five arches on each side of the nave, with lighter piers,
they would not have been so objectionable. The
present enormous pilasters — 40 feet in width — sup-
porting the four huge arches of the nave are due to
Carlo Maderno. Nothing, however, can mar the ex-
ceeding impressiveness of the dome, with its great
beauty of size and proportion, rising from the pave-
ment to a height of 333 feet in the centre of the cross
formed by the intersecting of the four great vaults of
the nave, tribune, and transepts, each vault 50 feet
wide by 150 in height.
70 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
In spite of all defects of style, taste, and architecture,
it is impossible not to feel that S. Peter's is impressive
in the grandevir of its proportions and the magnificence
of its decoration, nor to believe it unworthy of its place
as the greatest of Christian churches. It is designed
as a great gathering-place for the Christians of the
world — to represent Catholicity in its extensive sense as
it were — rather than as the mystic home of personal
devotion, and must be so judged and appreciated.
Size. To clean and keep this great church in repair, now
costs annually about ;^7,ooo. Its internal length is
613 feet, the height of the nave 152 feet, breadth 87
feet ; diameter of the dome 1 39 feet — three feet less
than that of the Pantheon ; exterior height of the
dome 405 feet (without the cross). It covers 240,000
square feet of ground, or about six acres. The relative
lengths of the following churches are marked on a slab
in the nave :
S. Paul's, London, 520 feet.
Duomo at Milan, 443 feet.
S. Paolo Fuori, 419 feet
S. Sophia, 360 feet.
S. Peter's is open from early morning until dark. A
certain number of attendants, in dark-purple liveries,
are always on duty in the church. These men are
known as sampietrini.
Piazza. We now approach S. Peter's by the great piazza with
its double colonnades. Its centre is adorned by the
obelisk from Nero's circus, upon the pedestal of which we
read: " Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus im-
perat. Christus ab omni malo plebem suam defendat."
Obelisk. The story runs that while this obelisk was being reared
into position with infinite difficulty, by means of horses
attached to it by ropes, the anxiety and suspense were
so great, that absolute silence was enforced upon all
present upon pain of instant death. At the most
critical moment the ropes began to yield, and a young
S. PETER'S 71
sailor from Bordighera named Bresca shouted out in
spite of the prohibition that water should be thrown
upon them. This was done, and the obelisk safely
drawn into position ; and as a reward for this timely
service, the Bresca family was given for ever the
privilege of supplying S. Peter's with palms for the
ceremonies of Palm Sunday. This incident is depicted
in fresco in the Vatican library.
A flight of easy steps lead from the piazza to the
church, at the base of which are two modern statues
of SS. Peter and Paul, placed in this position by
Pius IX. As in the old basilica, five entrances lead
into the vestibule of the church. Over the main Vestibule
entrance, inside, is a mosaic by Giotto, unfortunately Giotto's
much retouched and repaired, representing the Saviour mosaic,
walking upon the waves ; the head at His feet is a
portrait of Cardinal Giacomo Stefaneschi. This mosaic
was removed here from the outer court of old S. Peter's,
and is said to have been first placed in that position
for the benefit of the Eastern Christians, who were in
the habit of paying superstitious rites to the rising
sun, and whose thoughts were by its means to be
diverted into better channels. S. Carlo Borromeo who
was in the habit of visiting the shrine of Peter every
day for twenty years, used to kneel here on entering,
and pray to be saved from death in the waters of sin,
as S. Peter was saved from the waves.
The present vestibule is 468 feet long by 50 feet
wide, and 66 feet high. On the right is an equestrian
statue of Constantine by Bernini, not seen from here
unless the doors into the Scala Regia are open ; on
the left, one of Charlemagne by Cornacchini. Above
. the cornice are statues of all the popes up to the time
of the building of the present church. The inscrip-
tions built into the walls were removed from the
outer court of the old basilica. One records the gift by
QrQaOvy II. of certain olive plantations for the supply
of oil for the church lamps. Another is a copy of a
•gij]] of Boniface VIII. (1294), in which indulgences
72 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
are granted for the jubilee year of 1 300 ; and upon the
third, are the lines written by Charlemagne in honour
of Adrian I.
Five doors lead from the vestibule into the church,
corresponding to the five entrances into the latter.
The one on the extreme right, walled up, is the so-
called Porta Santa, opened originally once, now four
times in a century.*
Doors. The bronze doors in the centre were executed by
order of Eugenius IV. (1431-1447), in imitation of the
beautiful bronze doors of the baptistery in Florence.
They were made from the designs of the Florentine
workers Filarete, and Simone Baldi brother of
Donatello. These doors which took twelve years to
make, are divided into three panels. The bas-reliefs
upon the frame-work represent mythological subjects
in odd contrast to those of the panels. In these, above
are represented the Virgin and Christ, below S. Paul,
and S. Peter presenting the keys to Pope Eugenius IV.,
below again the martyrdoms of S. Peter and S. Paul.
Upon the destruction of the old church these doors
were removed to their present position, with additions
in inferior bronze to make them the necessary height.
The black wooden doors on either side are said to
have been made from the timber planks of the old
basilica.
Interior. Immediately within the doors is an immense circular
porphyry slab in the pavement, upon which it is said,
the emperors were formerly crowned.
Roof. The tunnelled ceiling of the nave and bays, coffered
and gilded, is due to Bramante, although carried out by
Carlo Maderno. A difference in the width of the
roofing can be detected above the third pier, marking '
the point where the latter architect altered the original
plan by prolonging the nave.
Nave. The nave is divided from the aisles by four great
piers faced with Corinthian pillars, which extend
beyond the spring of the arches to the vaulting of the
* See p. 58.
S. PETER'S 73
roof. The entablature is richly gilded. The facings
of the pillars are of stucco, but with few exceptions,
the whole of the interior of the church is lined wdth
marble.
The pavement, designed by Giacomo della Porta Pave-
and Bernini, is entirely of marble. In the niches of ment.
the pilasters of the nave are colossal statues of all the
founders of religious orders ; the statues are modern, Statues of
and have no artistic merit. The series, which is con- founders
tinned round the tribune and transepts, with, in of orders,
some places, an additional row above, commences on
the right with the statue of —
1. S. Theresa, founder of the reformed Order of the Discalced
CarmeHtes, in the niche of the first pillar.
2. S. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Daughters of Charity
and of the Congregation of Missions.
3. S. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians.
Turning to the right into the transept the series con-
tinues with —
4. S. Caetano, founder of the Clerks Regular.
5. S. Jerome ^Emilian, founder of the Somaschi.
6. S. Joseph Calasanctius, founder of the Clerks Regular of
the Pious Schools {Scolopii).
7. S. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians.
In the tribune are 8 figures :
8. Elias the prophet, founder of the Universal Order of Mount
Carmel.
9. S. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers.
10. S. Francis, founder of the Friars Minor.
11. S. Benedict, founder of the Congregation of Monte Cassino.
Over these are :
12. S. Francis de Sales, founder of the Nuns of the Visitation.
13. S. Francis Caracciolo, founder of the Clerics Minor.
14. S. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists.
15. S. Francesca Romana, founder of the Oblates of Tor de'
Specchi.
Following the series into the left transept, we find :
16. S. Juliana Falconieri, founder of the third Order of the
Servites of the Blessed Virgin.
74
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
17. S. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines.
18. S. Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensian canons of the
Augustinian rule.
19. S. Guglielmus, abbot and founder of the Monastery of the
Virgin on the mount of that name.
20. S. Peter Nolasco, founder of the Order of Our Lady of
Mercy for the Redemption of Captives.
21. S. John of God, founder of the Hospitaller Orders.
Turning back into the nave, and descending the
church on our right, we come to —
22. S. Francis of Paula, founder of the Order of Minimites.
23. S. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus.
24. S. Camillusof Lellis, founder of the Clerics Regular, Ministers
of the sick.
25. S. Peter of Alcantara, restorer of the ancient spirit of the
Order of S. Francis.
Bronze On the right of the nave against the last pier is the
statue of celebrated bronze sitting statue of Peter, beneath a
^*®^' canopy. The origin of this statue is unknown. It
used to stand in the monastery of S. Martin, in the
Vatican precincts, and was there venerated in the
VI. century. It has been asserted that it was made
from the molten bronze of the great Capitoline Jupiter,
or that it was itself an image of Jupiter, but modern
archaeologists consider it to be of Christian origin, and
to be probably of the v. century. It was quite pos-
sibly made, as tradition states, by order of Leo I.
(440) in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Rome
from Attila. It was placed in its present position by
Paul V. The foot of this image has been partly worn
away by kisses.
Dome. Beyond rises the great dome, supported upon its four
gigantic piers 253 feet in circumference. The height
of the dome is 405 feet, 448 feet including the cross.
In the niches of the four piers are four colossal figures,
16 feet in height — S.Veronica, by Mochi ; S. Andrew,
by Fiammingo ; S. Helena, by Bolgi ; and S. Lon-
Balconies ginus, by Bernini. Above are four balconies, from
of the two of which the four major relics are exposed upon
relics. certain days of the year. The relic of the Veronica
Veronica. •' •'
S. PETER'S 75
has been already described.''' The sacra lancia, or lance Sacra
with which our Lord's side was pierced, is said to have lancia.
been found in Jerusalem by Helena, and transferred
to Constantinople in the vi. century, where it was
kept in two parts. One portion was sent in 1492 by
Bajazet, master of the city, as a gift to Innocent VIII.,
and was placed in a chapel built in the niche where
now stands the statue of Longinus. It is now kept
with the Veronica, and they are always shown to-
gether. The third relic, that of the true cross, was Relic of
encased in a silver reliquary by Urban VIII., who the cross,
united portions kept at S. Crocef and in S. Anastasia.
The fourth relic, the head of S. Andrew, enclosed in Head of S.
silver, is shown on the eve and feast of this Apostle, j Andrew.
Besides the ordinary exposition, the favour of in-
specting these relics has been granted to sovereigns
on three or four occasions by special indult of the Pope.
The person so favoured must be first created super-
numerary canon of S. Peter's, and must wear canon's
dress. Frederick III. was granted this privilege by
Nicholas V. ; in 1656 the veil and lance were shown
to Queen Christina of Sweden in the vestibule of the
church, and in 1717 the Pretender was shown them
in the same place by Clement IX. Two separate keys
are kept of the reliquary by two canons.
Above the balconies are representations of the four
Evangelists in mosaic, and upon the frieze beneath
the dome the inscription in mosaic upon a gold
ground : ' Tu est Petrus et super hanc petram aedifi-
cabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni
coelorum.' The letters are 4 ft. 8 in. high, and the pen
in S. Luke's hand 7 feet. The surface of the cupola
is divided into compartments, and the whole is deco-
rated with mosaics, those below representing Christ,
the Madonna, and the Apostles.
Immediately beneath the centre of the dome is the
high altar, at which the Pope alone can celebrate
* See p. 62. t See p. 142, and Part II. chap. 5.
I See p. 180.
76 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
mass, or a cardinal or other prelate especially appointed.
Baldac- Above it is the great haldacchino, or canopy of bronze.
chino. Many designs for a haldacchino were considered before
the present was finally decided upon. One design,
rejected on account of its enormous weight and size,
was to place a figure of Christ upon the globe, sup-
ported upon the four Evangelists as pillars. The
present one, designed by Bernini, is 95 feet in height,
and weighs some 92 tons. The bronze for its con-
struction and for that of the figures in the tribune was
recklessly stripped from the Pantheon roof by order of
Urban VIII., and gave rise to the popular saying:
' Quod non fecerunt Barbari fecerunt Barberini.' It
was executed during the pontificate of that Pope, and a
portion of the funds was contributed by a Princess
Barberini of that time, whose portrait Bernini has
introduced in the faces of the cherubs, while the bees
from the Barberini coat-of-arms occur frequently in
the decoration of the columns.
Confes- The confession in front of the high altar is reached
sion. by two flights of marble steps, and is surrounded by a
marble balustrade, upon which ninety -three lamps
burn night and day. At the foot of the steps are
some beautiful alabaster pillars from the golden house
of Nero, while in the centre of the confession is a fine
kneeling figure of Pius VI. by Canova.
Immediately beneath the high altar are bronze
doors enclosing a niche decorated at the sides by two
mosaics of Peter and Paul from designs of Michael
Angelo ; at the back, an ancient representation of
Christ in mosaic from the older church. In the centre
of the niche is a gold coffer, by Benvenuto Cellini,
in which are kept the archbishops' pallia. Here, also,
is an ancient sarcophagus, said to have been that one
in which the body of Peter was laid in the catacomb
on the Via Appia, and the spot is pointed out as being
immediately above the tomb of Peter, although in the
excavations of 1594 the sepulchral chamber was seen
at a spot further back and to the left of this.
S. PETER'S 77
Before the interior of S. Peter's was completed,
there was considerable doubt as to how adequately to
fill the tribune end, and the story runs that Bernini, Tribune,
when quite a young man, heard it said that only a
genius could solve the problem, and had wished him-
self that genius. Some years later he was visiting
the chapel to the left on entering, where was kept at
that time the chair of S. Peter, and the idea came to
him of raising this chair upon the shoulders of the
four doctors of the church under the window of the
Holy Spirit ; the bronze group now in the tribune
is the result of this inspiration. When first completed,
Bernini called in Sacchi to criticise his group of
figures, and Sacchi pronouncing them 6 inches too
small, the work was begun again from the beginning.
The four figures of S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, S.Chry-
sostom, and S. Athanasius are colossal in size, and
hold upon their shoulders a bronze throne, in which is
enclosed the ancient chair of Peter. Seen from the
great distance of the end of the nave, the group is
imposing, and probably anything less large and mas,-
sive would have looked insignificant ; but seen close,
the figures, like all Bernini's, are entirely wanting in
beauty or grace, and their waving draperies are, in
such a position, more than ordinarily out of place.
The four great arches of the nave correspond to as Chapels-
many chapels, opening on either hand into the aisles. "^^^ ^^^'®'
These are richly decorated with marble ; the altar-
pieces are, for the most part, copies, in mosaic of fine
workmanship, of celebrated paintings. The aisles are
rich in sepulchral monuments of popes and illustrious
persons, but few of them have any artistic merit.
Taking the chapels in order, that immediately to
the right on entering is the chapel of the Pieta, so i. Pieta.
called from the marble group by Michael Angelo of
the dead Christ upon the knees of His mother which
it contains. This group was executed by Michael
Angelo when only twenty-four years old, and bears
his name carved upon the girdle of the Madonna. It
78
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
2. S. Se-
bastian.
3. Sacra-
ment.
cannot unfortunately be properly seen in the position
in which it is placed. To the right stands a white
marble column protected by a grating of iron bars,
said to have been brought from the Beautiful Gate
of the Temple of Jerusalem, and against which Christ
is said to have leant during some of His discourses,"''
Opposite is the sarcophagus of the Senator Probus,
decorated v/ith bas-reliefs of Christ and the Apostles.
Beyond is the chapel of the Crucifixion within bronze
doors, containing a crucifix by Cavallini. This chapel
was designed by Bernini ; it also contains a mosaic by
Cristofari. Outside the chapel, under the arch, is the
monument of Leo XII. (1823), and that of Christina,
Queen of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus,
who died in Rome in 1689.
The second chapel is that of S. Sebastian, with a
mosaic altar-piece, a copy of Domenichino's picture of
the saint in S. Maria degh AngeH. Beyond to the
right is the tomb of Innocent XII. by Valle ; and to
the left, that of Countess Matilda of Tuscia, the friend
df Gregory VII., and stanch upholder of the authority
of the popes against the German incursions. She died
in Mantua in 11 15, and her remains were removed to
their present position by Urban VIII. in 1635. The
sarcophagus is decorated with bas-reliefs representing
Henry IV. at Canossa with Gregory VII. and Matilda.
The third chapel on the right is that of the Sacra-
ment. It is enclosed with iron doors, and is richly
decorated. To the right are the two twisted pillars
from the old basilica. The altar-piece of the Trinity
is by Pietro da Cortona. Over the altar is a magni-
ficent tabernacle of gilt bronze and lapis lazuli,
copied from Bramante's round temple at S. Pietro in
Montorio. To the right is the tomb of Sixtus IV.,
the bronze worked by Antonio Pollajuolo. In the
same tomb lies Julius II., who, it will be remembered,
commissioned Michael Angelo to design for him the
enormous sepulchral monument, part of which now
• See note, p. 61.
S. PETER'S 79
stands in S. Pietro in Vincoli. The altar behind this
tomb is that of S. Francis, the mosaic represents
his receiving the stigmata. Beyond this chapel under
the archway are monuments to Gregory XIII. by
Rasconi and to Gregory XIV. The former is decorated
with a bas-relief representing the correction of the
calendar, which took place during this pontificate.
The next and fourth chapel is of the Madonna del 4. Ma-
Soccorso, and contains a picture of the Madonna, donna del
of the XII. century, removed from the convent in Soccorso,
Campo Marzio, where it was much venerated. It ^onan
was brought to S. Peter's in solemn procession, an chapel,
event commemorated by Raphael in the Loggie. This
chapel was erected by Gregory XIII. from designs of
Michael Angelo, carried out by Giacomo della Porta,
and is generally known as the Gregorian Chapel.
Under the picture of the Madonna is the tomb of
S. Gregory Nazianzen,"^ and before the altar the tomb
(marked by a single slab) of Gregory XIII., to the
right the elaborate monument to Gregory XVI.
Against the last pillar of the nave outside this
chapel is the altar of S. Jerome, with a- mosaic copy
of the communion of the saint by Domenichino.
Under the next arch, the tomb of Benedict XIV.;
and opposite, the chapel of S. Basil, with a copy of '
Subleyras's picture of the saint celebrating mass.
In the right transept beyond was held the Vatican Right
Council of 1869, the partitions erected for it remaining transept.
in position until 1889. The green pillars in the transepts
come from the temple of Romolus and Remus, and here
the canons used to sing the Litany of the Virgin every
Saturday. The size of these two transepts together
is such that they could contain the cathedral of Milan
as to height and length, although the latter is slightly
wider.
At either end of the transepts are two pillars of
giallo antico of great value, removed from some edifice
of pagan Rome. Each transept contains three altars,
* See p. 272.
8o
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
although the original design was for nine. The centre
chapel of the right transept is that of SS. Processus and
Martinianus, whose relics were removed here from old
S. Peter's, with a copy of Valentin's picture of their
martyrdom. To the right of this, S. Wenceslaus,
King of Bohemia, with a painting (copy) by Caroselli ;
and to the left the martyrdom of S. Erasmus, by
Poussin.
Beyond the transept, on the back of the pier of the
dome, is the chapel of the Navicella, with an altar-
piece copy by Lanfranco ; opposite, the monument of
Clement XIII. by Canova, the most beautiful in the
church.
5. Arch- The last chapel on the right is that of the Archangel
angel Michael, with a copy of Guide's well-known picture.
Michael. Here also is the altar of S. Petronilla, spiritual
daughter of S. Peter. This chapel is under the
patronage of the kings of France, who often sent their
children to receive baptism here. The altar-piece is
a copy of Guercino's picture in the capitol.
Passing on the left the tomb of Clement X., and on
the right the resuscitation of Tabitha by S. Peter, from
Costanzi's painting, one enters the tribune.
Tribune. The altar of the tribune was erected by Pius IX. in
. 1859. To the left of it is the tomb of Paul III. The
monument was designed by Michael Angelo, and worked
by Guglielmo della Porta. Beneath the statue of the
Pope in bronze are two allegorical figures, said to be por-
traits of the Pope's mother as Prudence, and his sister
as Justice. The drapery of the figure of Prudence was
added at two subsequent periods once by Bernini, and
again by order of Pius IX. Two other figures belonging
to this tomb are now in the Farnese Palace, and were
separated from it when it was moved to its present
position by Urban VIII.* To the right of the altar is
the tomb of Urban VIII., the figure of the Pope
* On the walls are inscriptions, with the names of all those
present upon the declaration of the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception in 1854.
S. PETER'S «i
executed by Bernini, the other figures by his pupils.
The bees from the Barberini coat-of-arms may be
noticed, not within the shield, but wandering away
over the monument, suggestive of the ended life of
the occupant.
Crossing the tribune, and entering the prolongation
of the left aisle, one passes on the right the tomb of
Alexander VIII., with a bas-relief of the canonization
by him of five saints ; on the left, a mosaic copy of
Mancini's Peter and John heahng the lame man.
Beyond is the altar of Leo, above it, the great bas-
relief, probably the largest in the world, by Algardi,
representing Leo I. warning Attila against the wrath
of the Apostles should he advance upon Rome. In
front of the altar is a slab marking the grave of
Leo XII., the inscription upon it composed by him-
self.
This chapel, at the extreme end of the church, is 5. Chapel
called the Colonna, from a painting of the Madonna left of
on a pillar which stood in old S. Peter's, and was "f-^^-
much revered. Beneath this altar is an ancient sarco- colonna.
phagus, which contains the bones of Leo II., Leo III.,
and Leo IV. (682, 795, and 847).
Beyond, to the right, is the hideous tomb of Alex-
ander VII., Bernini's last work, with four allegorical
figures, the drapery of one of these being added at a
later date by Innocent XI. Opposite is the Fall of
Simon Magus, an original oil-painting upon slate by
Francesco Vanni.
The three chapels of the left transept are : in the Left
centre, a copy of Guido's Crucifixion of S. Peter'' ; this transept,
is the site of the tomb of the composer Palestrina (1520-
1594) ; to the right, S. Thomas, by Camuccini ; and
to the left, the new mosaic of the miracle of S. Maurus.t
This transept contains confessionals for eleven different
languages, and the throne of the Cardinal Penitentiary.
* The bodies of Simon and Jude lie here.
t The S. Francis, by Domenichino, which stood here, has been
moved to the chapel of the Sacrament.
6
82
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
4. Clemen-
tine
Chapel.
3. Choir
Chapel.
2. Presen
tation.
Beyond, one passes on the right above the door to
the sacristy the monument of Pius VIII., and, on
the left, a copy of Roncalli's death of Ananias and
Sapphira over the altar of S. Peter and S. Andrew.
The next chapel, the fourth in the left aisle, is the
Clementine Chapel, erected by Clement VIII. (1592-
1605), which contains the tomb of Gregory the Great
(590-604). The altar-piece above represents the miracle
of the Brandeum by Sacchi."
In the same chapel is the tomb of Pius VII., by
Thorvaldsen. On the pier a mosaic copy of Raphael's
Transfiguration.
In the next arch are the tombs of Innocent XL
(1676) and of Leo XL (1605), the latter by Algardi,
with a bas-relief of the abjuration of Henry IV. of
France.
Beyond is the chapel of the choir, decorated by
Giacomo della Porta, and shut in by ironworked doors.
It contains stalls for the canons, and two galleries with
organs for the choir. The altar-piece is a mosaic copy
of Bianchi's picture of the Assumption, in S. Maria
degli Angeli.
Beyond the chapel, under the arch, is the monument
of Innocent VI 1 1., by the brothers Pollajuolo, and
opposite this a niche where each pope is laid at his
death for the space of a year, when his remains are
removed to some permanent resting-place.
The next chapel is that of the Presentation, and
contains a mosaic copy of RomaneUi's picture of that
subject.
Above the door in the arch to the right, is the
tomb of Maria Sobieski, wife of the Pretender James
Edward, called in the inscription James III. of Great
Britain, France and Ireland, who died in Rome in
1745, and whose monument was erected at the expense
of the Fabbrica, or building-fund, of S. Peter's.
Opposite this is the Stuart monument, by Canova —
a tomb guarded by genii, whose drapery was added
*. See p. 45
S. PETER'S 83
in stucco at a later period. This monument was erected
at the expense of George IV. of England to the last
of the Stuarts, and bears an inscription to James III.,
Charles Edward, and Henry Cardinal York. In the
crypt, where their ashes in reality lie, all three are
given the royal title.
The last chapel in this aisle is the Baptistery, con- i. Baptis-
taining a mosaic copy of Maratta's baptism of Christ ; tery.
S. Peter baptizing his gaolers, by Passeri ; and the
baptism of the Centurion, by Procaccini. In the centre
is an immense red porphyry basin, used as the font,
which was originally the cover of the sarcophagus of
Hadrian, and afterwards of Otho II.
The sacristy, which consists of three principal halls. Sacristy,
was built by Pius VI. in 1775. The entrance in the
left aisle leads into a wide winding corridor. Imme-
diately within the entrance are statues of SS. Peter and
Paul by Mino da Fiesole, which used to stand in front
of the old basilica. The corridor opens into the Sagrestia
Commune, an octagonal hall, decorated with eight fluted
pillars of higio, or gray marble, from Hadrian's villa,
and containing an altar-piece of the Deposition by
Sabattini. The gilt bronze cock here came from the
bell-tower of the old church.
On the left of this room is the Sagrestia dei Canonici
(to see which and the following a guide is necessary),
containing an altar-piece by Penni, of the saints Anna,
Peter, and Paul, and another opposite, of the Madonna,
by Giulio Romano.
Beyond is the Stanza Capitolare, or chapter-house.
Here are preserved some old doors from the confession
of the ancient basilica, decorated by Giotto. These
consist of eight panels representing Christ enthroned,
the crucifixion of Peter, the martyrdom of Paul ; they
were probably painted in 1300 for Cardinal Stefaneschi,
whose portrait appears upon them. Here are, in
addition, some fragments of paintings by Melozzo da
Forli of angels playing various musical instruments,
which originally decorated the tribune of the church
6—2
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Treasury.
Ascent of
Dome.
Grotte
Vaticane.
of SS. Apostoli, and were removed here by Montana
when he restored that church. Adjoining is the
Sagrestia dei Beneficiati, with an altar-piece by Muziano,
and the Madonna della Febbre, from the church of
that name upon the site of which the sacristy stands.
Beyond is the treasury, which however is seldom shown,
containing jewels, ornaments, and church plate, among
which are six candelabra by Benvenuto Cellini and
Michael Angelo ; a dalmatic, said to have been worn
by Leo III. at the coronation of Charlemagne; em-
broidered copes and vestments of great value ; a chalice,
presented by Cardinal York, and other objects of
interest.
Here, over the door into the Archives, are the chains
of the gate of Tunis, presented by Charles V. to
Sixtus IV. (1471-1481).
The ascent of the dome can be made upon applica-
tion. The entrance is opposite the Stuart monument
in the left aisle. An easy staircase mounts to the roof,
and further flights of steps and passages between the
two walls of the drum lead to the base of the lantern,
and another flight to the ball, which can contain sixteen
persons, and is 8 feet in diameter. Openings lead into
the galleries running round the dome, from which the
interior of the church can be seen, while higher up a
magnificent view of Rome and the surrounding country
is obtained.
In one of the chambers in the pillars of the dome is
preserved a model of the proposed S. Peter's as designed
by San Gallo.
The crypts of S. Peter's, the so-called Grotte Vaticane,
are the only portions remaining of the original basilica,
and are interesting to visit on this account. They
moreover possess many monuments and other objects
of artistic and historical value, removed from the old
church upon its destruction.
Originally, access could be obtained for men upon
application at the sacristy ; but women were not allow^ed
entrance except by special permission, obtained through
S. PETER'S 85
the cardinal archpriest of the basilica. Lately, the
vaults have been closed to all by order of the Pope,
and permission to see them is extremely difficult to
obtain.
The grotte consist of two portions — the so-called
grotte niwve beneath the dome, which consist of a circular Grotte
passage surrounding the confession, from which open nuove.
various chapels ; and the grotte vecchie, consisting of
three parallel corridors beneath a portion of the nave.
The entrance into the vaults is behind the statue of
S. Veronica. Beneath each of the four great pilasters
of the dome are the four chapels of S. Veronica,
S. Helena, S. Andrew, and S. Longinus, opening into
the circular corridor, and, of course, added at a later
date. The chapel of S. Helena is decorated with
paintings of events in the life of S. Andrew ; that of
S. Longinus has a mosaic altar-piece of the saint from
Sacchi.
In the centre of the circular passage is the chapel of Chapel of
the confession in the shape of a Latin cross, and richly cpnfes-
decorated. On either side of the entrance are bas- ^^'^^'
reliefs of the lives of Peter and Paul, removed from
the ciborium of Sixtus IV. in the old church.
Opposite the entrance is the sarcophagus of Junius
Bassus (359), richly sculptured. The surface of the
sarcophagus is divided into compartments, in each of
which is represented some scene from the Old or
New Testament ; at the ends Job and Peter, and
above the compartments the lamb holding a wand.
The altar of the confession is decorated with two
XII. -century pictures of S. Peter and S. Paul.
At the foot of the stairs leading to the grotte is the Chapel of
ancient chapel of S. Maria in Portico, or della Boc- S. Maria
ciata, containing a picture of the Madonna by Memmi, ^" Poi-tico.
from the portico of the old church. Here also are
some old sarcophagi ; the statue of S. Peter by Paolo
da Siena, also from the old portico ; statues of Matthew
and John from the tomb of Nicholas V. (1447) ; of
Benedict XI. (1303); some Christian inscriptions, and
86
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Of
S. Maria
Partori-
enti.
a fresco representing old S. Peter's. The next chapel
is that of S. Maria Partorienti, and between them
is a X, century mosaic of Christ in the attitude of
benediction from the tomb of Otho II. The chapel
contains an viii. century mosaic of the Virgin, and of
an angel attributed to Giotto; a portrait of John VII.
(705); a figure of Boniface VIII, (1294) by Andrea
da Pisa ; some v. and vi. century inscriptions, and
the statues of the 2 apostles James from Nicholas V.'s
monument. Popes Leo II., Leo III., and Leo IX.
were originally laid in this chapel. Opposite to it is
another chapel of the Salvatorino, with a cross in
marble from the old church.
Close to the chapel of S. Andrew is the inscription
of Pope Damasus (366-384) from the old baptistery
relating to the drainmg of the Vatican district.
Others, of the time of Valentinian and Theodosius
(376-379), relating to property held by S. Peter's; the
statues of Bartholomew and John from the tomb of
Calixtus III., and the four doctors of the church from
Nicholas V.'s monument.
The Grotte Vecchie lead out from this portion
of the corridor. They have undergone hardly any
alteration, and their floor is formed of the pavement
of the old church. They contain a large number of
monuments and sarcophagi of popes and illustrious
persons which stood in the atrium of the old basilica.
With the exception of a few popes in the x. and xi.
centuries buried in the Lateran, by far the greater
number were laid in S. Peter's (after Leo I.), at
first in the atrium, later within the building. Upon
its destruction some of these tombs were moved to the
crypt of the new church ; a few were placed in S. Peter's
itself ; others were scattered among the churches and
chapels of the city,
^f^ >f ^^ At the upper end of the Grotte Vecchie is the chapel
Salvatore °^ ^^^ Salvatore, with a Madonna in bas-relief by
Arnolfo from the tomb of Boniface VIII. (1294-1303).
Here also is the tomb of Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus
Grotte
Vecchie
S. PETER'S 87
(1487), and the inscription recording Countess Matilda's
gift of her property to the Church in 1 102. Following
the wall of the corridor, we reach the tomb of the last
Stuarts, named under their royal titles of James III.,
Charles III., and Henry IX. ; that of Pius VIII. (1831),
and at the extremity of the corridor that of Gregory V.
(996-999), of Otho II., ob. 983, and the empty tomb
of Alexander VI. (1492).
The further corridor is the richest in sepulchral
monuments. Here is the sarcophagus of Boni-
face VIII., the figure by Arnolfo ; that of Pius II.
(1458-1464), of Pius III. (1503-1503), of Adrian IV.
(1154-1159) the English Pope Nicholas Breakspear ;
of Nicholas V. (1447-1455), and of Paul II. (1464-1471),
the figure of this pope by Mino da Fiesole. Beyond
are the tombs of Julius III. (1550-1555), Nicholas III.
(1277-1281), Urban IV. (1261-1265), Marcellus II.
(1555), and Innocent IX. (1591-1592), of Cardinal
Ercole, and of Agnese Caetani Colonna. The corridor
of the Grotte Vecchie here ends, and one enters once
more the circular passage of the Grotte Nuove. Be-
tween the chapels of Longinus''= and Helena are some
statues of Christ and S. Andrew, taken from the
tomb of Nicholas V. ; some bas-reliefs by Mino da
Fiesole, representing the Last Judgment, Adam and
Eve, and Charity, from the tomb of Paul II. There
are also some mosaics here.
Feast day : of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29 ; of the chair of
Peter in Rome, January 18 ; of the chair of Peter at Antioch,
February 22 ; of the dedication of the basilica, November 18.
The Stations are kept on the 2nd Saturday and 5th Sunday
in I_^nt.
* Longinus was the centurion who pierced the side of our
Lord upon the cross, and exclaimed : "Truly this man was the
Son of God," It is related that, touching his eyes with his hands
stained with the blood of Christ, he was cured of a weakness of
sight which had long afflicted him. He sought out the Apostles,
and was baptized. He dwelt in Caesarea for twenty-eight j^ears,
converting many, and was finally beheaded for the faith. He is
represented in art in the clothes of a Roman soldier, and carries
a lance. Feast day, March i:;.
CHAPTER V.
The Lateran — Basilica — Palace — Patriarchium — Baptistery — Scala
Santa — Christian Museum — 5. John the Baptist — S. John the
Evangelist.
The Church of S. Giovanni in Laterano rises upon
the site of the House of the Laterani," a palace which
that family had possessed from the time of Plautius
Lateranus, the Consul Designate. This Consul, either
through his embracing Christianity or through some
other cause, had his estates confiscated by Nero,t
but they were again restored to the family by Sep-
timius Severus in a.d. 197. Later, the j^des Laterani
passed into the possession of Fausta, wife of the
Emperor Constantine, and was her dower house, and
it was that portion known as the house of Fausta,
domus Faust(B,\ which was given to the Bishops of
Rome as a residence, and which the successors of
Pope Sylvester occupied until the flight to Avignon.
This donation was probably made in the first years of
the IV. century, for as far back as October 2, 313,
Pope Miltiades held the first council against the
Donatists in " domo Fausta Laterano." This was the
year when the Edict of Milan assured the Peace of
the church.
* Imperial inscriptions of a date prior to Nero have been found
here, and here was found the statue of Titus now in the Braccio
Nuovo of the Vatican.
t Tacitus, Ann., xv. ; Juvenal, Sat., x. 11.
* Optatus Milevius, Contra. Parm., i.
THE LATER AN 89
The precise epoch at which a Christian basilica was The
built within the Lateran palace is unknown. Its his- basilica,
tory is interwoven with that of the development of
Christianity in Rome, of which it becomes, as it were,
the symbol, the *' glorious capitol of the Rome of Peter
and Paul." The Lateran church, the first public
Christian basilica, became the cathedral of Rome, and
hence took priority of all the churches in the city ; its
canons to-day taking precedence of the canons of
S. Peter's.
This first church built within the palace was probably
of no great size, and its materials and columns were
no doubt borrowed from Pagan buildings. Tradition
asserts, as in the case of S. Peter's, that Constantine
himself helped to dig its foundations. It was known
as the Basilica Constantiniana, and the Liber Ponti-
ficalis in Sylvestro specifies the treasures that Constan-
tine gave it, treasures no doubt accumulated in later
centuries. The dedication was to Christ the Saviour, Dedica-
but it appears that about the vi. century the names tion.
of S. John the Baptist and S. John the Evangelist were
added, possibly derived from a monastery of monks,
dedicated to those two saints, which existed near the
Lateran from some time after the iv. century. The dedi-
cation then became " Christo Salvatori, et in honorem
S. Joannis Baptistae et S. Joannis Evangelistae."
The Lateran church was so much damaged by the Restora-
Vandals, that Leo the Great (440-461) had to restore tionsof
it, and it was again restored by Adrian I. (771-795) ; ^^° ^•
but in 896 it was almost totally destroyed by an earth-
quake, and the Liber Pontificalis records that " hujus
tempore ecclesia Lateranensis ab altare usque ad portas
cecidit."
Sergius III. (904-911) then completely rebuilt theofSer-
church, upon the old foundations, retaining the old gius III.
dimensions, and it is of this building, which was
certainly dedicated to S. John the Baptist, in addition
to the original dedication, that we have the first clear
accounts.
90
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The Sergian basilica lasted for 400 years, when
on the night of May 8, 1308, it was almost totally
destroyed by fire.
The history of the great basilicas of Rome during
these ages of turbulence and violence is one long
Of Cle- narration of destruction and reconstruction. Clement V.
ment V. (1305-1316) began the rebuilding of the church, which
was completed under his successor John XXII. (1316-
1334), and decorated by Giotto.
But in 1360 it was again burnt, and again rebuilt by
Of Urban V. (1362- 1370). At this epoch little of the
Urban V. Sergian church remained, but the building had re-
tained its ancient type. And this, too, is the period of
its greatest splendour.
Under successive popes, the magnificence of the
Lateran increased ; its gold and marbles vied with
those of the palaces of the Caesars, and gave to it the
name of "basilica aurea." The remembrance of its
many treasures moved the imaginations of the Romans
of the middle ages, and history and fable were inter-
twined, until it was said, and then inscribed in the
documents of the Lateran, that here, besides the Ark
of the Covenant, were preserved the Tables of the
Law, the Golden Candlestick, and the sacerdotal vest-
ments of Aaron, and the Lateran was believed to have
succeeded to the sanctity of the Temple of Jerusalem.
So too we find it called " Aula Dei " as though it were
a new Zion.*
At this period the basilica was preceded by a large
* On the Arch of Titus are represented the table of sacrifice,
seven-branched candlestick, two censers, two long trumpets, and
the ark. These Josephus describes as brought to Rome by Titus.
Vespasian had sent the books ofxthe Law and the veil of the
Temple to the palaces of the Caesars. The candlestick and the
vessels he placed in his Temple of Peace. When Alaric sacked
Rome, he obtained possession of some of those things, and
Genseric shipped the sacred vessels to Carthage. Here they
were discovered eighty years later by Belisarius, and brought to
Constantinople. There has been no further trace of them since
Justinian ordered them to be taken to a Christian church in
Jerusalem, as related by Procopius.
THE LATERAN 91
atrium, surrounded by colonnades, and with a fountain Atrium,
in the centre, according to ancient usage.
Here were noble sepulchres of popes and bene-
factors, among the former, the tombs of John X.
(915-928), John XII. (956-964), John XIV. (984-985),
of Alexander II. (1061-1073), and of Martin V. (1417-
143 1), whose body was later transferred to the papal
altar.
Here also was an oratory of S. Thomas which
formed a pontifical sacristy erected by John XXII.
On the door was a x. century painting representing
the pope vesting. The porticoes of the atrium were
decorated with frescoes representing the Roman fleet
under Vespasian, the siege of Jerusalem, the baptism
of Constantine, and the " donation " of Sylvester, pos-
sibly of the time of Alexander III. (1159-1181).
Here also was the " stenoraria " or seat of rosso antico
upon which the pope sat during his coronation, and
which had this strange name from the verse of the
psalm (113), " Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore
erigens pauperem," which was sung during the cere-
mony.
The fagade of the church, with its three windows, Fa9ade.
as we see at S. Maria in Trastevere to-day, and in the
picture of old S. Peter's in the Raphael Stanze, was
decorated with mosaics, representing Christ on a gold
ground ; below, the figures of four prophets, with the
books of their prophecies in their hands.
The great doors into the church were flanked by Doors,
statues of Peter and Paul, still preserved in the gallery
near the sacristy. Within, long rows of ancient Interior
columns divided the church into a nave and four aisles. °^ tjj? ol'i
The walls were covered with mosaics and frescoes "^^^""^^
representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments,
and light entered through ogive windows.
A few steps ascended to the Clementine nave, or
transept. In the centre of this rose the high altar,
enclosing the wooden table upon which Peter is said
to have celebrated.
92
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Transept. Beyond was the apse, with the sedilia and episcopal
throne. Behind again, was an hexagonal portico of
ancient pillars, around which was the celebrated epi-
graph recording the vision of Innocent III. (i 198- 1 216),
and here was kept later the register of relics, the
" tabula magna " of Leo X. This was the Leonine
portico, built it was said by the first Leo (440-461).
Apse. An inscription upon the apse stated that it was
decorated with mosaics by the munificence of Con-
stantine Felix Flavius and his wife Padusia in 428.
These seem to have been restored or replaced by Leo I.
and by Sergius III., who recorded his work in an in-
scription. In 1291, the work having again perished,
Nicholas IV. entirely restored the tribune, and de-
corated it with mosaics, the work of the Franciscan,
Giacomo di Turrita. His work, restored and preserved,
has lasted to our own time, and the first thing we
admire on entering the Lateran to-day is the richness
and beauty of the tribune, the renewal of which is
the work of the present pontiff, making us feel that
this is indeed a " basilica aurea."
Of the church built by Urban V. (1362-1370) we
still possess portions of the pavement, of fine Alexan-
Taber- drine work, and the tabernacle of the high altar, "a
nacle. most graceful monument of that epoch." The canopy,
of Gothic style, is decorated with paintings by Berna
da Siena, and rests upon four granite and marble
columns. The tabernacle was erected partly at the
expense of Charles V. of France, to receive the busts
of SS. Peter and Paul, found among the remains of
the old church. These busts were robbed in 1434,
and again at the end of the xviii. century by the
French Republicans who despoiled the church, and
the present replicas we see, made in 1804, are not even
faithful copies of the originals.
Restora- The Lateran basilica was again restored by Martin V.
tions of (1417-1431) and by Eugenius IV. (1431-1447), and was
Martin V. g^riched by many new works undertaken by their
Eugenius
IV
successors, until in the pontificate of Innocent X.,
THE LATER AN 93
(1644- 1655) for the third time it was entirely rebuilt, Inno-
Borromini being the architect. cent X,
The work was completed under Clement XII. (1730-
1740), who erected the modern fa9ade as we see it to-
day, the work of Alessandro GaHlei (1734).
In digging the foundations for the chapel "at the ex-
tremity of the aisle of penitents in 1656, Mellini describes
the finding of the remains of some large building, some
40 palms below the surface, with»terra-cotta pilasters
and a red brick pavement, some portion, probably, of
the Lateran buildings.
The monastery, which was perhaps of the viii. Monas-
century, covered the ground to the left of the basilica ^®^y-
as one stands facing the apse, and between it and the
walls of the city. The beautiful Benedictine cloister Cloister,
was erected in the first years of the xiii. century
by the Roman school of marble-workers, Vassallectus
and the Cosmas. They are in a style transitional
between Romanesque and Gothic, with delicate spiral
columns decorated with mosaic. The inscription
placed by Vassallectus, which had been covered by a
pilaster, can now be seen in the cloister. In the centre
of the quadrangle is the mouth of a well decorated
with Christian subjects in bas-relief. Other fragments
of the older buildings are still kept here ; among them
the episcopal throne originally in the apse, 2 columns
from the House of Pilate, a stone altar, some sepulchral
slabs, and inscriptions.
Opposite, on the right hand side of the basilica, was Lateran
the great palace of the popes, an irregular mass of P^i^^e.
building extending to and including the oratory of S.
Lorenzo now at the head of the Scala Santa, which
was then the private chapel of the popes, the Sistine of
the Lateran. The palace, like the present Vatican, was
a labyrinth of rooms, oratories, and halls, forming a
great bovgo. Besides the pope's dwelling, it included a
great Council Hall of which we have a painting in the
Vatican Library, and to which the Scala Santa origin-
ally gave access. The great tower and portico of Pope
94 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Zaccarias (731-741) formed the entrance to this part of
the building, and from here papal benedictions were
anciently given ; and here was kept a map of all the
known world. A magnificent staircase flanked with
porticoes led to the centre of the building. Near by
was the Tower of Barons, and here was the equestrian
statue of Marcus Aurelius now on the Capitol, which
was known as that " of Constantine," and owes its
Patriar- safety to this mistake. Gregory the Great founded a
chium. residence here- for the instruction of young priests, and
from his time we find the building called Patriarchium.
Tri- Most magnificent of all the halls of the palace was
clinium. the Triclinium or Banqueting-Hall, built at the end
of the VIII. century by Leo III. in honour of Charle-
magne's visit, and where they feasted together after
his coronation on Christmas-day a.d. 800. It had no
less than 10 apses, 5 on each side, and terminated in
an ample tribune. To the north Boniface VIII. con-
structed a covered loggia, from whence the papal bene-
dictions were given, and the Jubilee of 1300 was an-
nounced. It was decorated with frescoes by Giotto,
representing the scene of the Jubilee ; the only frag-
ment remaining is the portrait of Boniface VIII.
attached to a pillar in the right aisle of the basilica.
The triclinium was panelled with marble, and de-
corated with mosaic. A facsimile of one of the apses
has been preserved upon the outside wall of the Sancta
Sanctorum chapel, facing the Campagna. The mosaic
represents Christ in the centre of the eleven apostles ;
to the right and left 2 scenes. To the right, the
kneeling figures of Sylvester and Constantine ; to the
left, Leo and Charlemagne ; while Peter, with the
keys upon his knees, bestows a pallium upon Leo, and
a banner upon Charlemagne. Of the apostles, Peter
and Paul are large in size, and are sitting, the other
nine stand behind. Round the arch is written : " Go
out and teach all nations," etc., to the words, " con-
summation of the world ;" and beneath, " Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good-
THE LATER AN 95
will." By Peter, are Linus and Clement. The copy
of the mosaic was placed in its present position l3y
Benedict XIV., but the original decorated the apse on
the opposite side of the Triclinium. Fragments of this
have been preserved in the Vatican library.*
Around the Lateran " Borgo," foreigners gathered, Borgo.
with their schools, hospices for pilgrims, and dwellings,
but the English always seem to have preferred the
Vatican precincts, and it is recorded that the popes
sent food and clothing from the Lateran palace to the
Anglo-Saxons gathered in their wooden dwellings round
S. Peter's, who were suffering from cold and hunger,
and were in great need.
Boniface VI IL was the last pope to undertake any
work in the Lateran Palace. The exile at Avignon
followed, and in the xvi. century the palace being in
a ruinous condition, it was ruthlessly demolished by Destruc-
Sixtus v., who employed Fontana for the purpose, tion of
and the present buildings were erected in its stead, palace.
Among the many buildings of historical and artistic
interest which then perished, in some cases with the
expostulation and regrets of the Roman people, the
baptistery, cloisters, and chapel of S. Lorenzo alone
escaped.
Among the many inscriptions which have perished,
Signor Armellini records one, which was read by
Galletti, in a corner of the atrium, as a rare example
of truthful epigraphy :
" Hie jacet in fossa
Pietro Paolo Barbarossa
L'anima del quale
Credo manere male."
In the Lateran, which we also find styled Sacro-
sancta Laterancnsis Basilica, five general councils have
been held, in 1123, 1139, 1179, in 1215, and in 1512.
* The Liber Pontificalis is the document from which the
topography of the Lateran can be reconstructed. Le Latran att
Moyen Age, by Fleury, 1877, is also a valuable source of informa-
tion.
90 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
From the return from Avignon until 1870, the popes
have resided in the Vatican palace, and one of the
first acts of each new pope, upon his election, was to
take possession of the Lateran, the cathedral church
of Rome ; a ceremony performed with much pomp and
magnificence."'
The Lateran was under the Protection of France.
In visiting the Lateran church to-day, no one should
neglect to go to the steps of the great front. From
here one looks across the Campagna with the aque-
ducts of Claudius, and in the distance the blue Alban
Hills. Close by is the gate of S. Giovanni, replacing
the ancient Porta Asinaria, through which Belisarius,
and after him Totila, entered Rome ; and across the
open space within the walls, the Church of S. Croce in
Gerusalemme.
Fa9ade. ^^ ^he great travertine fa9ade of the basilica, we
read along the entablature the dedication, Christo
Salvatori, and over the pilasters that this is the
mother and head of all churches : " Omnium vrbis et
orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput." Over a mosaic bust
of Christ, is the colossal figure of the Redeemer among
• others of Apostles and saints — a procession of great
figures which can be seen right across Rome. Among
the columns and pilasters which support the entabla-
ture and balustrade, are five balconies, from the central
one of which the popes used to give their benediction.
Vestibule. The church is preceded by a vestibule in which
stands a marble statue of Constantine, formerly in his
baths on the Quirinal hill. Five doors lead from here
into the basilica. The central doors of bronze were
removed from the church of S. Adriano in the Forum,
and were said to have come from the iEmilian basilica.
The church is one of the four with a Porta Santa,
which is walled up according to custom. The ancient
Nave. nave pillars of the former church were incased in
massive pilasters by Sixtus V., in the niches of which
are colossal and tasteless statues of the 12 apostles;
♦ See Part IV.
THE LATER AN 97
above them, marble bas-reliefs by Algardi. Of the
mediaeval basilica, besides the tabernacle, we still
retain portions of the fine Alexandrine pavement, and
the XIII. century mosaics of the apse, which how-
ever have just been entirely renewed and restored
by the present Pope. At the extremity of the nave is
the High Altar enclosing the wooden Table of Peter ;
over it the tabernacle described above. In the con-
fession is the tomb of Martin V. in bronze, the work
of Simone, brother of Donatello. The ceiling is from
designs of Delia Porta.
Immediately to the left on entering is the Corsini Left aisle :
chapel built in 1734 during the pontificate of Cle- Corsini
ment XII. (Corsini) by Galilei, in honour of the saint Chapel,
of that pope's family, S. Andrea Corsini.''' This
chapel is magnificently but tastefully decorated with
rich and costly marbles, with bas-reliefs and gems.
Over the altar is a mosaic copy of the S. Andrea Corsini
by Guido. The monument to Clement XII. consists
of a porphyry sarcophagus with a modern cover,
removed from the portico of the Pantheon, where it
formerly stood. The statue of the Pope, and that of
Cardinal Neri Corsini, on his monument opposite,
are by Maini. The other figures in niches are by
followers of Bernini, and have no artistic merit.
Beneath this chapel, in a vault, is a Pieta by Montanti.
On the same side, further up, is the chapel where
relics are preserved, and the seat of the Cardinal Peni-
tentiary. The level of the transept or Clementine Transept,
nave, is higher by some steps than that of the nave.
At the extremity to the left is the Chapel of the Sacra- chapel of
ment, designed by Paolo Olivieri. Here are four gilt the Sacra-
bronze columns from the older basilica, said to have ment.
been cast by Augustus from portions of the captured
vessels at the battle of Actium, and afterwards to
have adorned the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol.
Above, is a fresco by Arpino of the Ascension, and
* A Florentine, born 1302. Lived as a Carmelite from the age
of 17, and died Bishop of Fiesole, aged 70 years.
7
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Choir
chapel.
Leonine
portico.
Sacristy.
Transept.
Tribune.
behind and over the altar is preserved a table said to
be that of the last Supper. It is of wood, and was
once entirely covered with silver. Visitors should ask
for admittance to the Benedictine cloister, and if
possible, to the covered corridor which runs above it,
from which the place over the altar where the table is
kept, is entered.
Next to this chapel is the choir chapel, containing
carved stalls for the canons, an altar-piece by i\.rpino,
and a picture of Martin V. by Gaetano. Here, also,
is a monument to a lady of the Colonna family.
The entrance into the Leonine portico (another
portion preserved from the older church), a circular
corridor surrounding the tribune, is next to this. On
the left is the entrance to the Sacristy. On the wall
here is a bas-relief found near the church of SS. Peter
and Marcellinus, representing the old basiUca and the
Porta Asinaria ; near this, some leaden water-pipes
bearing the name Sextus Later anus.
The sacristy contains a cartoon of Raphael's Ma-
donna, now in S. Petersburg, an Annunciation by
Venusti, and a wooden statue of John the Baptist by
Donatello. The doors are of the xii. century, made
by artists of Piacenza.
In the centre of the portico is an altar flanked by
the ancient statues of Peter and Paul from the older
church, and above it a crucifix, said to be by Giotto.
Further on, a kneeling figure of Pope Boniface VIII.
of the X. century. In this gallery are also kept the
Tabula Magna or list of relics and some mosaics
relating to the building of the church.
Close to the point where this gallery re-enters the
transept, is the great tomb of Innocent III. (ii 98-1 216),
erected by the present Pope in 1892.
The Pope has also entirely restored the beautiful
mosaics of the apse, prolonging the tribune by 60 feet.
The mosaics, which are of the year 1292, represent a
gemmed cross with a dove hovering over it ; on either
side, the Madonna, SS. Peter, Paul, and Francis, and
THE LATER AN 99
John the Baptist, SS. John Evangelist and Andrew.
The Four Rivers flow from the mount of Paradise
below, and at the feet of the Madonna kneels Pope
Nicholas IV., the faithful, as stags and sheep, drink
from the waters.
At the right extremity of the transept is another
entrance, with portico designed by Fontana, which is
that most commonly used. The frescoes, representing
scenes in the lives of Pope Sylvester and Constantine,
are by Cesari and others.
The chapel in the right aisle at this end, belongs to Right
the Massimo family ; it was designed by Delia Porta, aisle,
and contains a Crucifixion by Sicciolante.
Farther down is the chapel of the Torlonia, magni-
ficently decorated, and containing a Descent from the
Cross by Tenerani. This aisle contains the picture of
Boniface VIII. by Giotto before referred to, on the
back of the third pillar ; also a monument to Cardinal
Guissano of the xiii. century, and some fine sepul-
chral monuments of popes removed from the old
basilica.
Visitors should not omit to pass round by the left
from this transept entrance, to see the buildings from
the outside, and the other very beautiful view of the
Campagna from the terrace there. The portico at the
big entrance contains a bronze statue of Henry IV. of
F'rance by Cordiere, erected at the expense of the
canons of the Lateran in gratitude to this King, who
had bestowed upon them the monastery of Clerac in
Germany.
Feast day : of S. John Baptist, June 24 ; of S. John Evangelist,
December 27 ; of dedication of the basilica of S. Salvatore,
November 9.
The Stations are held on the first and last Sunday in Lent.
BAPTISTEEY OF THE LATERAN. — The beautiful bap-
tistery of the Lateran, called S. Giovanni in Fonte,
and S. Giovanni ad Vestes in allusion to the white
dress of the neophytes, is a detached building with an
entrance on the piazza, and the original entrance on
7—2
loo CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the other side leading to the ambulacrum round the
apse of the basilica ; this had an internal atrium, and
a vestibule adorned with porphyry columns and mosaic
of the IV. and v. centuries.* We now enter from the
piazza.
The The ancient atrium is still adorned by two fine
ancient porphyry columns ; it was enclosed as it now stands
atnum. by Anastasius IV. (1153-1154). Here he placed the
relics of Rufina and Secunda, in two sarcophagi.
When the apse of the Lateran was recently enlarged,
among several old inscriptions found was, strangely
enough, one to a Secunda Rufina, of the imperial
household, placed by two of her companions called
Zosimi.
The plan The baptistery is octagonal, with 8 immense por-
of the bap- pi^yj.y columns, and Ionic and Composite capitals;
tistery. ^^ these rests an antique architrave, supporting 8
smaller columns, and these support the octagonal
drum of the lantern. f The building, interiorly and
exteriorly, retains its original general arrangement and
appearance, though the height was increased by Pope
Hilary. It has been repaired several times, and lat-
terly in the last century by Urban VIII. and Inno-
cent X. In the centre is the baptismal basin of green
basalt, to which we descend by several steps into
the veritable circular baptistery in which it stands.
Sixtus III. (432-440), the first restorer, and according
to Gregorovius, the original builder, of the edifice has
placed an inscription on the architrave referring to
baptism and its spiritual effects. This baptistery
served as the model for all the baptisteries in Italy.
Baptism The uniform tradition of the Church has been that
of Con- here Constantine was baptized by Pope Sylvester,
stantme. jj^^g jg however a fable. Constantine fell ill at
Helenopolis where he had gone for the warm baths,
after the feast of the Pasch a.d. 337, and there
* De Rossi, Musaici delle Chiese di Roma.
t The columns and architrave are said to have been the gift of
Constantine. *
THE LATER AN lOi
received the imposition of hands as a catechumen.
At Ancyrona he summoned the bishops to assist at his
baptism, which he had delayed with the excuse that
he desired to be baptized in the Jordan. He was
baptized by Eusebius, who was confused later with
Eusebius of Rome or Sylvester, in whose diocese of
Nicomedia he was then residing.'''
Here Cola di Rienzi bathed the night before he
summoned Clement VI. and the electors of Germany
to appear, August i, 1347, and before his coronation
with seven crowns in the adjacent basilica.
Above, in the octagon of the cupola are scenes from
the life of John the Baptist by Andrea Sacchi. The
events in the life of Constantine are portrayed on the
walls by Carlo Maratta, Andrea Comasei, and Gia-
cinto Gemignani.
Round this building were added in the v. century chapel of
3 chapels or oratories, erected by Hilary (461-468) S. John
in thanksgiving for his escape from the attempts of Evan-
Dioscoros and his followers at the Council of Ephesus. ^^ '^^
On the right is the Chapel of S. John EvangeUst,
ornamented with ancient mosaic of the v. century,
representing flowers and birds on a gold ground. On
the vault a lamb with the cruciform nimbus, a v.
century ornament. The doors are of bronze, a.d. 1196.
The statue is by G.-B. della Porta. Opposite is the
oratory of the Baptist, with a statue in bronze by And of
Valadier (1772), copied from Donatello's wooden S. John
statue of the Forerunner. Hilary took the bronze Baptist,
doors, it is said, from the baths of Caracalla. On the
internal epistyle of the doors is written : Domine dilexi
decorem domus tua. In the little apse Hilary has in-
scribed : "To B. John the Baptist Hilary Bishop
servant of God, has made it." In 1727 the ancient
mosaics of the roof and walls disappeared. They are
described by Panvinius : The mystical lamb stood
within a wreath of laurel, birds perched on olive
trees, and in the angles were fishes and dolphins.
* " Episcopus baptizans "
I02 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
This chapel of the Baptist is not open to women,
and the explanation is that John met his death through
the instrumentality of a woman. It is certainly re-
markable that this, which is the only instance in the
entire Gospel of evil suffered at women's hands, and
then not in direct reference to Christ Himself, should
have been seized on to point a moral and adorn a tale ;
and in such a way as to upset our ethical balance, and
destroy in the popular mind, by a silly conceit, the
singularly beautiful picture of the Baptist's life. It is
not only impossible to imagine why Salome was more
culpable than Herod, but S.John's sanctity is especially
connected with that of his holy mother, and of Mary.
This exquisite gospel poem has not however been
allowed to counterbalance the action of Herod's ballet-
dancer.
Third Of the third chapel dedicated to the Cross, preceded
chapel by a triporticum, no trace has been left.''' It is men-
Hikrv tioned in the inscription recording the Donation of
Matilda, 1059.
It has been conjectured that the chapels to the two
S. Johns may have originated the later dedication of
the Basilica.
On the bronze door of the baptistery, nickelled silver,
Hilary has placed the words : In honorem S. I. Bap-
tistce Hilarus Ep. Dei famulus offert.
A bishop has always baptized in this baptistery on
Easter eve.f
* " Oratoria tria in baptisterio basilicas Constantinianae . . .
et triporticum ante oratorium Sanctae Crucis ubi sunt columnae
mirae magnitudinis " Lib. Pont, in Hilaro. At the confession
in the centre, Simmachus placed a piece of the true cross. It
had four apses, and the fa9ade was cruciform, the roof covered
with mosaic. Sixtus V. ruthlessly destroyed it to build the adja-
cent palace, gemente urbe, the city sorrowing, says Ugonio.
t The apsidal portico is called Chapel of SS. Rufina and
Secunda. Anastasius placed an altar over their sepulchres in the
left apse of the portico. A picture represents Christ crowning
the two saints. The decoration in mosaic is a repetition of the
Latin cross, and De Rossi conjectures that here the pope made
THE LATER AN 103
In the line of procession from the ambulacrum of S. Ve-
the basilica to the baptistery, is the Chapel of S. Venan- nanzio.
tius. It was dedicated by John IV. (640-642), who
transported the martyr's relics from his native Dalmatia.
The chapel forms the Vestibule to the baptistery. A
picture represents Venantius and other Dalmatian
martyrs whose relics rest here. On the arch are Mosaics
the 4 EvangeUsts' emblems, and 8 saints, 4 on each
side. In the tribune Christ is represented with raised
hand between two angels ; below is the Blessed
Virgin draped in blue, her arms raised orante-wisc.
Then 8 Roman and Dalmatian saints : Peter with
the keys and a banner-cross, Paul with the Gospel,
John the Baptist and Evangelist, Venantius and
Domnus, the Bishop of Salona,''^ and the figure of
John IV. The other figure on the right may represent
Theodorus, who completed the chapel. There is an
inscription underneath.
This oratory was erected to Dalmatian martyrs,
as a sort of monument to the cessation of the Istrian
schism.
A ceremony took place here on Easter Day, after
the singing of the three vespers. The architriclinus
presented the Pope with a cup of wine in this vestibule,
and while he drank, a Greek sequence was sung. The
cantores then kissed the pontiff's foot, and he then made
them all drink out of the same chalice.
In the Patriarchium, intra episcopiurn Lateranense, there
were several other basilicas and oratories : near the
Scala Santa was the Basilica Theodori built by that
Pope; a ix. century oratory dedicated to "the Mother
of God," the x. century church of S. Thomas in the
the sign of the cross with the chrism on the foreheads of the newly
baptized. Thus Prudentius sings :
Castibus aut magnis Lateranas currit ad ades
Unde sacrum referat regali chrismate signum.
* Salona, in Dalmatia, was destroyed in the time of the
Dalmatian Pope, John IV., by the barbarians. He removed
the relics of the Dalmatian martyrs here.
104 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ancient portico ; and 5. Silvestro in Laterano mentioned
in the notice of Pope Theodore. Here on Holy Thursday
the Pope supped after the washing of the feet ; and here
the new Pope took possession of the Lateran Palace.
Pope Hilary built a church to the proto-martyr,
with a monastery where the children were trained to
sing. In the xiv. century it was in a falling con-
dition, and was still known as S. Stephanus de Schola
Cantorum. It stood near the baptistery. On the
site of the old Lateran sacristy stood 5. Pancratitis,
built, with a monastery, by the monks who fled from
Monte Cassino, a.d. 528. Theodore, Gregory 11. ,
Adrian, and CaUxtus II., added other oratories and
churches.
SANCTA SANCTOBTTM or S. Lorenzo in Palatio. This
little chapel, at the head of the Scala Santa, is the
original private chapel of the popes, which used to stand
History, within the Lateran Palace. Its name of Sancta Sanc-
torum is derived from the words carved by Leo III.
(795-816) upon the chest of cypress wood in which the
relics are kept.
The chapel dates probably from the vi. century,
when it was erected to receive the relics brought by
Gregory the Great from Constantinople. This is
referred to in a life of Gregory IV. (827-844), and
the chapel is mentioned as " S. Laurentius " in the
Liber Pontificalis of Stephen III. (768-772). Com-
pletely restored by Honorius III., but damaged by an
earthquake soon afterwards, it was nearly rebuilt by
Nicholas III. (1277-1281). Most of the painting and
decoration dates from this time, and an inscription :
* Magister Cosmatus fecit hoc opus,' shows that the
great marble workers, the Cosmati, were employed by
Nicholas III. in his restorations.*
The chapel is square in form, and to a certain
extent Gothic in style. A marble dado, in which are
marble seats, decorates the lower portion of the walls ;
above they are divided into compartments by small
THE LATER AN \o^
twisted pillars upon marble bases. There are 28
of these divisions, each decorated with frescoes, repre-
senting in the centre, the Madonna and Child, on
either side, the two S. Johns, the 12 Apostles and 4
Evangelists, Isaiah and David. The vault of the roof Roof,
is supported upon 4 acute arches, resting upon 4
gilded pillars in the 4 corners. In the arches are
the emblems of the Evangelists upon a blue field.
In the 8 lunettes, SS. Peter and Paul, with a pope
between them, probably Nicholas III. ; Christ on a
throne, the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, of Stephen
and Laurence, and two scenes from the life of
S. Nicholas of Mira. The pavement is of beautiful Pave-
cosmatesque work, and light enters through grated ment.
windows. The sanctuary of the chapel is in portico Sane-
form, with four porphyry columns supporting an archi- tuary.
trave upon which is the inscription, " Non est in toto
sanctior orbe locus."*
The vault of this portion of the chapel is decorated
with mosaics representing the Redeemer between four
angels. In the lunettes, the busts of Peter, Paul,
S. Agnes, S. Laurence, S. Nicholas, S. Stephen, with
their names written beside each.
The altar is of white marble, and is surrounded by Altar.
an iron grating. In front, are two metal doors orna-
mented with bas-reliefs of SS. Peter and Paul ; beneath
the altar is an inscription which states that it was placed
here by Innocent III., and the doors by Nicholas III.
Above the altar is the celebrated picture of Christ picture of
painted upon wood, and completely covered, with the Christ,
exception of the face, with plates of silver by Inno-
cent III. This picture has been venerated since the
pontificate of Stephen III., the first historical mention
of it being in 752. It is unknown at what date it was
brought to Rome, possibly by Germanus Patriarch
of Constantinople, during the iconoclastic disputes.
P. Garrucci suggests that it may be the image men-
tioned by S. Gregory of Nyssa, and possibly a copy of
* " There is not in the whole world a place more holy."
io6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the Edessa image, now in S. Bartholomew of the
Armenians at Genoa, supposed to have been sent by
Christ to King Agbar. It resembles this latter, and
both are painted upon wood as far as the beard, the
rest upon fine canvas. These are the two most
venerated of the many paintings whose prototype was
said by Moses Coronese the Armenian (in the v.
century), to have been painted by no human hand."
They are hence called acheiropoieton. The painting
represents a head with a short beard, a nimbus com-
pletely round the face and hair, like a cap.
This picture was carried by Pope Stephen III.
through the streets of Rome in solemn procession, to
implore Divine assistance during the Lombard in-
vasions ; and one of the most ancient customs, said to
have been instituted by Sergius II. (844), was to carry
the picture to S. Maria Maggiore on Ascension day.
The pope and the people of Rome took part in the
procession, and at intervals the feet of the image were
bathed in basilic water. The idea of this quaint
custom, was to approach the picture of the Son to that
of the Mother, and thus to appeal to their grace and
intercession. The ceremony was abandoned in the
XVI. century.
Until the xi. century, the Pope washed the feet of
12 poor persons in this chapel on Holy Thursday, and
on Easter Day came to kiss the feet of the image three
times, repeating each time " Surrexit Dominus de
sepulchro."
Three other altars in the chapel contain relics.
The picture in the chapel is exposed from the eve
of Palm Sunday to the third Sunday after Pentecost.
At these times, men may obtain an entrance into the
chapel, which is usually closed, but entry to this, held
to be one of the most sacred spots in Rome, is still
forbidden to women.
Scala In the xvi. century, Sixtus V. moved to this
Santa. chapel the Scala Santa, or, as they were called in the
• Storia dell' Arte Christ., i. 408.
THE LATER AN 107
middle ages, the Scale di Pilato, which formerly led to
the Council Hall of the palace. It is said by tradi-
tion that this flight of 28 marble steps was brought
from Pilate's house in Jerusalem by the Empress
Helena, and that Christ Himself ascended them. Our
earliest record of them, in fact, dates from the middle
ages. Their ascent now is only permitted upon the
knees, and the wooden protection to the marble steps
has been often completely worn away and renewed.
There are two parallel flights for the descent. All
three are preceded by a portico of four columns, erected
by Sixtus W from Fontana's designs, and enclosed
with glass by Pius IX. At the foot of the stairs are
two figures, representing Christ betrayed, with the in-
scription : " Osculo filium homhiis tradis,'' and an Ecce
Homo, with the words : Haec est hora vestra et potestas
tenebrarum. These statues are by Jacometti.
THE LATEEAN MUSEUM, or Museo Gregoriano-Lateran- The
ense, is in the Palace built by Sixtus V. from the Christian
designs of Fontana, on the site and ruins of the old ' "^^""^■
Lateran palace or Patriarchium. This was made into
a Hospital in 1693 by Innocent XII. In 1843
Gregory XVI. converted it into the Christian Museum,
which was arranged by Pius IX. under the direction
of P. Marchi, and its interest much enhanced by its
recent curator commendatore De Rossi, who arranged
and classified all the inscriptions from the catacombs
on the walls of the great Loggia. We now enter the
palace by a door near the principal entrance to the
church. On either side of the great (second) flight of
stairs, leading up from the Cortile, are arranged the
early Christian sarcophagi/'- The large sarcophagus at First
the bottom of the staircase was found near the con- sarco-
fession of S. Paolo Fuori, while the foundations were P^^^-g^^-
being dug for the baldacchino columns. It is referred
to the period of the Theodosian edifice, late iv. cen-
tury.
* The ground floor contains pre-Christian sculpture.
io8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The centre is occupied by two busts of the deceased,
man and wife, unfinished. Upon the upper tier of reUefs
on the left is portrayed a seated figure in the act of
benediction, with others behind and in front, supposed
to represent the Trinity ; in a second reUef Christ
presents Eve to the Eternal Father ; a third has Christ
with Adam and Eve, and the serpent. On the other
side is represented the change of water into wine, the
miracle of the loaves, and the resurrection of Lazarus.
Christ holds forth a rod towards Lazarus, represented
as a mummy, and Martha kneels below. This is the
usual treatment. In the lower tier, are the Madonna
and child, with 3 magi in Phrygian caps ; the blind
man restored ; Daniel in the den of lions (Habbacuc
stands with a food pot beside him) ; Christ denied by
Peter ; Peter made prisoner by the Jews, who wear
the round Hebrew cap ; Moses striking the rock, the
Hebrews drinking of the water.
Of the 22 other sarcophagi, those on the left ascend-
ing are the finest, and consist of high reliefs represent-
ing the usual subjects treated in Christian sculpture.
Sarcophagi are almost the sole representatives of early
The sub- Christian plastic art. These subjects are : the Good
jects re- Shepherd ; Adam and Eve ; the Sacrifice of Abram ;
presented. Moses striking the rock, receiving the Law, and re-
moving the shoes from his feet ; the three children m
the furnace ; the Jonah-cycle ; the manna in the wilder-
ness ; the multiplication of the loaves ; the change of
water into wine ; the resurrection of Lazarus ; the
Haemorrhoissa ; the blind man healed ; the paralytic.
Sculpture was not a Christian art till the time of
Constantine. Hence all sarcophagi with Christian
subjects are of the iv. and v. centuries (see Cata-
combs, p. 408).
In the hypogeum of Lucina (catacomb of Callistus)
a sarcophagus bought at the usual pagan workshop
was found, having a bacchanalian scene depicted on
one side, which is turned to the wall ; the rough side
is outAvards and is inscribed " Irene." We find also the
THE LATER AN 109
subject of Ulysses tied to the mast passing between the
sirens Scylla and Charybdis — a symbol early adapted
by Christianity of which Clement of Alexandria says :
" Sail past the song, it works death , . . bound to
the wood of the cross thou shalt be freed from destruc-
tion."
On the right of the stairway a sarcophagus has this Inscrip-
inscription in Greek : " Paulina lies here, in the place ^°"^ °"
of the blessed, whom Pacata buried, she being her phagi'
sweet and holy nurse in Christ. (XPw.)"*
A very ancient tomb from Lucina's hypogeum,
which De Rossi thinks may have been of Apostolic
date, has : Blastiane pax tecum. A husband inscribes on
the sarcophagus to his wife, " Furia, my sweet holy
soul."
The tenth on the left should be noticed. The reliefs
are in panels between columns ; the Redeemer, the
sacrifice of Abram, resurrection of Lazarus, and the
early Christian symbols above. At either side is
represented a town, with temples and dwellings having
glazed windows. The sarcophagus is under a canopy,
with two pavonazzetto columns, as the sarcophagi
used to stand in the atria of basilicas.
At the top of the stairs is a bas-relief representing
Elijah's ascent to heaven in a four-horsed chariot ;
Elisha receives his mantle. This is a favourite
symbolical subject. It formed the front of a sarco-
phagus of, perhaps, the early iv, century.
Immediately facing us at the head of the stairs is Hippo-
the finest example of early Christian sculpture which lytus.
has been preserved to us. It is the seated statue of
S. Hippolytus, and is believed to be contemporaneous
with that great doctor of the church who lived a.d.
240.+ On the left side of the chair is engraved a list of
his writings, on the right the Paschal computation
arranged by Hippolytus about a.d. 223, both in Greek.
The head is modern.
* From the ca.ta.comh Jordanorum , on the Salaria.
t See Catacomb of Hippolytus, Chap. X.
no CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Reproduc- Turning to our left, a door before us leads to two
tions small rooms, in which are placed reproductions of the
catacomb paintings. The scene of the adoration of
the magi, in which four magi appear, is from the
Catacomb of S. Domitilla, and is held to date from
the end of the ii. century. The third room con-
tains the frescoes taken from the walls of S.
Agnese Fuori, attributed to the Cosmati, xiv. century.
Others, which represent birds and prophets may be
of the X. century ; they come from the crypt of
S. Niccolo in Carcere. [The large hall to the left as
we come out of these rooms contains on the pavement
the great mosaic from the baths of Caracalla, the
Athletes. Eight rooms and the Council Hall, all
containing pictures, follow.] To our right runs the
Loggia, round which are placed the catacomb in-
scriptions. Each compartment is inscribed with the
name of the catacomb from which the inscriptions
come, and, where this is possible, with the date. One
compartment contains the inscriptions of Damasus,
chiefly, however, in facsimile.
[The third floor contains the series of casts from
Trajan's column, ordered by Napoleon III. There is
a fine view from the top terrace across the Campagna
to the Sabine hills, and over part of the city.]
S. John s. JOHN was regarded for 15 centuries as the greatest
t^e of the saints, and in the East he still retains this place.
aptist. jjg jg always represented in early art next to the
Madonna herself. In the Confiteof John is named
after Mary and the archangel Michael, and before
the Apostles Peter and Paul.
It is of course easy to understand this. Christ had
said that of those born of women none was greater
than John ; the name of his mother had been men-
tioned by the angel at the Annunciation ; Mary's first
act had been to visit her, and John's life had begun
with this visitation of " Mary bringing Jesus with her."
It was believed Jesus and John had grown up together.
John is the first to point to the Lord as the Messiah,
THE LATER AN ill
and more than this he points to what is hidden and
mystical in that presence, " Behold," he says, " the
lamb of God."''' As the " Baptist," it is he who foretells
the baptism of the Spirit, and he baptizes Christ, and
sees the likeness of a dove descend upon Him. To
him is applied the beautiful first chapter of Jeremiah's
prophecy. Finally, the two most lovely of Christian
canticles are spoken at the time of his birth, Zachary's
Beyiedictus and Mary's Magnificat.
s. JOHN, " that disciple whom Jesus loved," the
brother of James the Greater, was with him surnamed
Boanerges, " thunderers," by Christ.
He was the only one of the Lord's apostles to 5 10^^
follow Him to Calvary, and stand by Mary and the the
Holy Women at the cross ; and Christ bestows on him, Apostle
as representative of the faithful, the last gift He has ^"4 ^van-
to bestow on His Church, " Ecce mater tua " : behold ^® ^^ '
thy mother.
According to tradition John founded all the Churches
of Asia and ruled them, being the first bishop of
Ephesus. He is said to have been in Rome in the
time of Nero. He outlived all the other Apostles,
dying a.d. 98, and was buried near Ephesus.
S. John is sometimes represented as an old man
repeating to his disciples and to little children the one
commandment he is said to have never tired of
reiterating : " My little children, love one another."
* These words are said to-day by the priest just before giving
the Eucharist to others.
CHAPTER VI.
S. Paolo Fuori — Old basilica — Present basilica — Cloisters —
Tre-Fontane.
S. Paolo Fuori. — This great Christian monument,
the Basilica Ostiensis, which was visited by pilgrims
next after the Vatican, and was one of the greatest
treasures of Christendom until the xix. century, has
shared with that sanctuary its many sackings and mis-
fortunes.
History. Before the Peace of the church there existed on
this site, which is about ij miles beyond the walls of
Rome upon the Via Ostia, a tropcsum or sepulchral
monument over the spot where Lucina buried the
body of Paul. There Constantine founded a basilica,
so tradition and the Liber Pontificalis assert : " Fecit
basilicam S. Paulo apostolo cuius corpus recondidit in
area et conclusit sicut S. Petri." — " He made a basilica
to Paul the Apostle, whose body he placed in a chest
and closed, as he did that of S. Peter."
That some work was begun here in honour of the
Apostle by Constantine seems to be confirmed by the
engraved stone found over Paul's sarcophagus, the date
of which is Constantinian ;* but, in a.d. 386, the three
Emperors, Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius,
ordered the consul Sallustrius to commence a great
basilica on the same site.
The work was continued after 392 by Theodosius,
Arcadius and Honorius, and the last-named Emperor
* See Catacomb of Lucina, Chap. X.
5. PAUL'S 113
completed it. Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius,*
contributed to the work later, Theodosius capit perfecit
Hotwrius we still read over the great tribune arch,
together with the commemoration of Placidia's help.
But one of the most interesting records of the work
there undertaken, is engraved upon a bronze tablet,
pierced on either side for suspension round some
animal's neck, probably a sheep-dog. The inscription
was edited by Muratori, but has only been explained
by De Rossi ; it runs as follows :
AD BASILICA APOS
TOLI PADLI ET
DDD NNN
FILICISSIMI PECOR
" Ad basilicam Apostoli Pauli et trium dominorum nostrorum
Felicissimi pecorarii."
The tablet must have been attached to the collar of
the sheep-dog of a tenement belonging to the basilica,
to which, and to the shepherd Felicissimus, the dog
belonged. This takes us back to " our three lords,"
the three emperors, and to the time of their building
the basilica of S. Paul.
In the VI. century a certain Eusebius restored the vi. cen-
cemetery, meaning the basilica buildings. This in- *^"''y-
eluded erecting porticoes with columns and paintings ;
restoring the roof and the adjacent baths, which were
frequently attached to the old basilicas ; making con-
duits for the water, and repairing the metisa stones on
the tombs of the martyrs.
* Theodosius was the Emperor baptized in 383-387, who placed
Gregory Nazianzen on the episcopal throne of Constantinople.
He was the author of the celebrated edict condemning all
religions but the Christianity of the Theodosian code, and was
refused admission to the Church at Milan by Ambrose in a.d. 390,
after the massacre at Thessalonica. Galla Placidia was his
daughter by his first wife Galla, daughter of Valentinian I.
She was therefore sister to the two Emperors Arcadius and
Honorius. She was a hostage in the hands of Adolphus the Goth,
whom she married in 414.
114 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
viii. In the VIII. century Leo III. confided the work of
century, the restoration of the basiUca to Felix a priest, and
to Adeodatus a Levite. Annexed to the basihca was
a great monastery, and around it minor basilicas,
oratories and other buildings, giving it the appearance
of a little township, as was the case with S. Peter's
and S. Laurence, while a continuous colonnade joined
it to the city. Being placed however on the borders
of the river, it was open to the incursions of the
Saracens, and in 880 John VIII. surrounded it with
fortifications, and the place became entitled Joannipolis,
John's town.* A fragment of the inscription over the
principal gateway of this township may still be seen
affixed to the walls of the monastery corridor.
In the pontificate of Leo IV. (847-855) and Bene-
dict III. (855-858) the Saracens sacked the church.
In 937 Alberic confided the government of the
church and monastery to Odo of Cluny. Odo took
with him other brethren to restore the relaxed dis-
cipline of the house, and proposed Baldwin of Monte
Cassino for its superior.
At the moment when Hildebrand ascended the throne
of Peter as Gregory VII. (1073-1087), he was Prior
of S. Paul's, and to him are due the restorations of
that epoch ; but with each successive restoration the
original type of a great basilica was preserved, of
which S. Paul's came to present the only instance,
S. Peter's having given place in the xvi. century to
the present edifice.
Descrip- Its dimensions exceeded those of old S. Peter's. A
tion of old nave and four aisles were divided by four rows of
churc . twenty columns each, brought from ancient buildings.
The walls were of marble, and the roof of undecorated
beams, was covered with bronze tiles. The nave
terminated with the immense and beautiful arch erected
by Galla Placidia, who placed here the two fine Ionic
• In the time of Gregory VII. it is still called casUllum S. Pauli
quod vacatur J oannipoUm, and is mentioned in a document of that
Pope's time, 1074. It was over two miles in circuit.
5. PAULS 115
columns of Greek marble which still sustain it.
It was decorated with mosaics of the v. century.
The great bronze doors, silvered over, were cast at Doors.
Constantinople, in 1070, by the artist Stauracios, by
order of the abbot Hildebrand.*
In the whole basilica there were 138 columns, the
finest collection in the world. Upon the entablature
above the columns was a series of portraits of all the
popes from Peter. In the xvii. century however,
nothing remained of those upon the east wall, and
those upon the north had nearly all disappeared.
The great arch was decorated with mosaics repre-
senting a colossal figure of Christ with a sceptre in
His hand, the emblems of the evangelists on either
side ; below the twenty-four elders, Peter and Paul.
In the visitation of Urban VIII. we read that the
church was preceded by an ample quadviporticus, just
destroyed at that epoch. Portions of the colonnade
which joined it to the city were then still standing. Of
the five doors into the basilica only one, the central,
was in use.f
Prudentius describes the glory of the church and its
riches during the reign of Honorius.
For 1,500 years the Christian Liturgy had been cele-
brated in the basilica of S. Paul, which continued to be
one of the greatest of Christian shrines in Rome — second
only, as we have seen, to S. Peter. The kings of
* These survived the great fire of 1823, but were much injured.
What remains of them may be seen in the cloister. They were
divided into compartments, in which were scenes in the life of
Christ, figures of prophets, martyrs and saints. The technique
is not bas-relief, but a drawing on bronze. Silver and gold
lines were inserted, which suffered by fire and theft.
In the time of Innocent VII. (1404-1406) and the great schism,
on that Pontiff's return to Rome, Antonius Petrus, in his diary
states : " That he went to S. Paul's Church on the feast-day,
June 30, and found it a stable for the horses of the Pope's
soldiers. No place was empty save the chapel of the High Altar
and the tribune. There was no control kept, either over the
Romans or the soldiery."
t "Acta Visit. Sub Urb. VIII. "
8—2
Ii6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
England were its protectors until the Reformation,
and when the campanile was taken down silver coins
from more than seventy mints of Europe were found.
On July 17, 1823, this great sanctuary was burnt to
the ground. The pine-roof caught fire and fell into
the nave. Even the columns were calcined and split.
Recon- From this time the Catholic sovereigns of Europe,
struction. and pope after pope, gathered together material and
treasure for its reconstruction. In 1840 the com-
pleted transept and high altar were consecrated by
Gregory XVI., and the entire basilica by Pius IX. in
December 1854, prelates from every part of Christen-
dom assisting.
The dimensions of the Honorian church have been
carefully preserved. Of the ancient church there re-
main the great arch and columns ; the series of papal
portraits on the south wall, which was untouched ; a
portion of the bronze doors, forty of the columns,
and some sarcophagi with bas-reliefs ; of the church
of the middle ages, some mosaics on the great fa9ade,
and the Paschal candelabrum. On this last are some
rude representations of the Passion, inscribed with the
names of Nicholas de Angelo, and the noted Peter
Vassallectus (xn. century). This now stands in the
south transept.
Papal The medallions of the popes are naturally not por-
portraits. traits as regards the earlier members of the series.
Forty-three of the original remain — namely, those from
Peter to Innocent I. (402-417), including Felix II.
Those which still existed on the north wall at the time
of the fire are preserved for us in copy in a codex in
the Barberini Palace (1634). ^^ ^^^ sixth place is the
.antipope Laurentius, and De Rossi points out that
this dates the series, as Laurentius could only have
been inserted while he claimed the see — i.e., during
the hfe of Symmachus (498-514). The conjecture
which attributed it to Leo the Great is therefore un-
founded. Each of the modern medallions has been
executed in the pope's mosaic manufactory, and each
S. PAUL'S 117
has taken the entire work of one man for a whole
year.
The effect produced by the basihca as it now stands Modem
must certainly be finer than that of the older edifice, interior.
It presents the appearance of a forest of marble ; four
long rows of granite columns spring from a highly-
polished marble floor, twenty in each row, with marble
capitals of the Corinthian order.
In place of the ancient wooden and bronze roof
we now see a magnificent gilded coloured and carved
one, with the arms of Pius IX. in the centre; but no
one, we imagine, would prefer this to the undecorated
basilica roof such as may still be seen in Ravenna.
The great arch remains in its original position, sup- Arch of
ported upon Galla Placidia's two Ionic columns, each Galla
of which is a single block, conveyed here in 440, in "l^'^i^i^-
sailing vessels from the mouth of the Po, to which
they had been brought on rafts from the quarry
near Lago Maggiore. An exact copy of the xiii.
century mosaic, which was destroyed by the fire, is
placed on the arch. Behind is the apse, with its
beautiful violet marble columns, saved from the fire.
The high altar is beneath a Gothic canopy on Altar,
porphyry pillars, above which is a baldacchino sup-
ported by four columns of Oriental alabaster, presented
by Mahomet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, to Gregory XVI.
Here, at some depth, he the remains of Paul. The
sarcophagus was at one time accessible ; the spot from
which the descent was made, says Bosio, lay under
the transept, to the left of the tribune, towards the
sacristy, and here was an altar in honour of S. Lucina.
This was not open in his day, but could be entered
from the subterranean oratory of S. Julian. " Near
the high altar, opposite the tribune, in the centre of
the transept," the chapel of S. Julian stood, but was
removed by Sixtus V., as it cumbered the way.
The stone, placed by Constantine, bears the inscrip-
tion
PAULO
APOSTOLO MART.
Ii8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Confes-
sion.
First
chapel.
Second
chapel.
Third
chapel.
Fourth
chapel.
Transept
chapels.
Tribune.
It remained buried and intact during the fire of 1823,
and still exists. In it holes are pierced, through which
pilgrims let down hrandea, grains of incense, etc.
Before the altar is the confession of S. Timothy the
disciple of Paul, where his remains rest. The tabernacle
is said to have been the work of Arnolfo di Cambio, a
pupil of Niccolo Pisano (1285).
The usual entrance is by the left transept.
The first chapel on our left is that of S. Stephen,
designed by Poletti ; the statue of the martyr is by
Rinaldi. The second that of the Sacrament, is dedi-
cated to S. Bridget of Sweden. Over the altar is the
crucifix which is said to have spoken to her ; it is
attributed to Pietro Cavallini. A very ancient wooden
statue of S. Paul, much injured by fire, and one of
S. Bridget by Carlo Maderno, are on either side of
the door inside.
On the further side of the tribune is the chapel of
the choir designed by S. Maderno, and which re-
mains almost as it was before the fire. The next
chapel is dedicated to S. Benedict, and contains a
statue of the saint by Tenerani. The small columns
of gray marble here were brought from the ruins at
Veil.
Of the two transept chapels, that in the left transept
is dedicated to S. Paul, with his conversion by Camuc-
cini above, statues of S. Gregory by Laboureur,
and of S. Romuald by Stocchi ; that in the right
transept to the Madonna ; over it, an assumption by
Agricola, with statues of S. Benedict and S. Theresa.
The frescoes above are by Podesti. Those of the
transept representing scenes in the life of S. Paul are
by Podesti, Balbi, and others.
The tribune apse is decorated with the original
XIII. century mosaics, of the time probably of
Honorius III., completed by Nicholas III., and much
retouched. In a lunette Paul is represented borne to
heaven, the work of Camuccini. A modern episcopal
chair stands beneath.
S. PAUL'S 119
In the body of the church are some fine wooden
confessionals, with bronze reliefs on the doors represent-
ing appropriate subjects. The immense statues of the
two Apostles at the upper end of the nave are by
Obice and Girometti. The total length of the church,
exclusive of the apse, is 396 feet, the length of the
nave 306 feet, its width 222 feet ; the width of the
transepts 250 feet, A gate in the right transept leads
into the monastery corridors. Here are preserved
Rinaldi's statue of Gregory XVI. and some mediaeval
mosaics which adorned the old basilica. We pass
from here to the cloisters, which are a beautiful example Cloisters,
of early xiii. century work. The arcades of the
fine square are formed by coupled columns, fluted,
spiral, twisted, or all three combined, and some covered
with mosaic. An inscription round the colonnade tells
us that it was begun by Abbot Peter (1193-1208), and
completed by Abbot John (i 208-1 241).
From this convent, which has lately been restored,
came Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), Nicholas III., and
Pius VII., the simple monk Gregorio Chiaramonti,
chosen as Pope.
The great fa9ade of the basilica has been decorated
with mosaics in imitation of the original, and they are
considered the finest modern work of the kind. Above
is the Redeemer with two Apostles, below the symbols
of the Evangelists, with the cities of Bethlehem and
Jerusalem; and below again, the four great prophets.
The campanile is modern.
An inscription is still preserved in this church refer-
ring to the baths which were attached to the basilicas
for the use of the clergy, and were in constant use
until the fifth century, when the Roman baths were
spoiled through the destruction of the aqueducts by the
Goths.
Feast day. — June 29 and 30.
The Station is on the 5th Wednesday in Lent.
s. PAUL is not one of the 12 apostles, though his
place is so important that he is accounted, after Peter,
I20 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the greatest apostle :* this is especially so in Rome.
Both Peter and Paul claim to have been chosen to
call the Gentiles, Peter in Acts xv. 7, Paul in Gal.
ii. 7, 8.
It would appear that Paul had a Christian sister,
and a nephew her son, and other kinsmen " of note
among apostles," who professed the faith before his
own conversion (Acts xxiii. 16 ; Rom. xvi. 7).
Fewer legends are connected with S. Paul's life, in
proportion as we possess more real knowledge of him
than of other apostolic figures. The difficulties and
defects of his own temperament, the inconsistencies,
the puerilities of argument to which he descends, yet
the unique profundity of other arguments, his curious
pride, his moving humihty, together with the laborious
apostolic fife, make him one of the most remarkable
figures in Christian story. To him we owe the foun-
dation of a wider Christology than that dreamt of by
the other Apostles, if we except John : to him we owe
the noble way of meeting the Gentiles, spite of the
Pharisaic spirit strong within him, as in the midst of
the Areopagus, where he boldly makes use of a Greek
conception, saying, "We are the offspring of God"; or,
writing to the Romans asks, " Is God the God of Jews
only ?" or when he reaches the great conception :
" There is no bond or free, there is no Jew or Gentile."
On the spiritual side of religion he has rendered no
greater service than in the much misquoted passages
on the dignity of faith.
It is almost incredible that such mistaken literary
appreciation has been possible as has been shown in
the theory that Paul preached Faith versus Works. Such
critics make faith = dogmatic belief, and works-of-the-
law = ' works.' Neither is true. And nothing can be
* A recent writer, discussing Paul's claims to Apostleship —
since it is clear he did not fulfil the conditions laid down by Peter
in Acts i. 21, 22, when Matthias was elected — declares that
S. Paul in effect said : I am an Apostle, because I have "seen the
Lord," because I have suffered much for the faith, because of the
singular success of my preaching.
S. PAUL'S 121
stronger than that Paul with the exalted significance
he gave to faith, preferred to it charity.
Although S. Paul's presence in Rome is not doubted, S. Paul
and Peter's has been, there are as a matter of fact i" Rome,
more traces of Peter here than of Paul. Paul having
landed at PuteoH (Pozzuoli), arrived in Rome in
March, a.d. 6i. He was then held in custodia militaris,
in a house at his own charges, but under the super-
vision of a guard, the Prcefectus castrorum. He would
probably therefore have been lodged in this official's
region of the city, probably the Castro Pretoria, estab-
lished since the time of Tiberius for the Pretorian
Guard near the Porta Collina, now the Macao.'^' Two
other sites are pointed out : one in the Camp of Mars
(Campo Marzio), where the Church of S. Maria in Via
Lata now^ is ; but this is a tradition of the middle
ages (xi. century) and is perhaps due to a con-
fusion with the subterranean oratory of S. Martial of
Limoges, who was said to have been Paul's disciple.
The other site is S. Paolo alia Regola in the Ghetto,
but there is no ancient testimony to this site. It is
likely that S. Paul bestowed his labours on that region
of Rome which he perforce inhabited ; and hence the
possibility of that conversion of two of the Pretorian
Guard, Nereus and Achilleus, which tradition ascribes
to him or to Peter. His two years' captivity ended
in his acquittal, and he may have frequented the Palace
of the Caesars during that time, in his attempts to
obtain justice, and in this way may have converted
members of the Imperial Household,! such being in
fact named in the Epistle to the PhiHppians, written
from Rome a.d. 59, 60 : " Those of Caesar's household
salute you."
* Vide Catacomb of S. Agnese, Chap. X. Cf. also Phil. i. 13 :
" So that my bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole
Praetorium " (i.e., place of the Praetorian Guard). In some
ancient Greek codices of the Acts this name is, in fact, inserted in
chapter xxviii., verse 30.
t See Catacomb of Domitilla, Chap. X.
122 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Other sites connected with the Apostle are the
"market of Appius," and the " Three Taverns " on the
Appian Way.*
After these two years, nothing is known of Paul's
doings until his death. For his sepulchre refer to
Chapter X, the Cemetery of Lucina on the Ostia. On
this road, going towards S. Paolo Fuori, a small
marble relief attached to a building on the left of the
road, marks the spot where Peter and Paul embraced
and parted on the way to martyrdom, June 2g, a.d. 67.
The story is legendary.
" Pierre et Paul reconcihes, voila le chef d'oeuvre
qui fondait la suprematie ecclesiastique de Rome dans
I'avenir " — writes Renan. To have combined the genius
of those two men, of the greatest of the apostles whom
Christ had chosen, and the great apostle who had
never seen Him, as the foundation of the universal
church, is indeed the work and glory of Rome.
For the traditional types of SS. Peter and Paul, refer
to the cemetery of Domitilla.
Site of TBE FONTANE. — Two miles beyond the basilica of
S. Paul's S. Paolo is the site of S. Paul's martyrdom, 5. Pavlo
™^*y" alle Tre Fontane, or ad Aquas Salvias its ancient
name.
To-day the group of buildings which forms the
sanctuary lies concealed among eucalyptus trees, and
forms a Trappist monastery. The site which they have
only recently possessed, has been planted and reclaimed
by this order ; to them is due the vine, the olive, and
the eucalyptus, and the splendid agricultural feats
which cover this hitherto malarial locality. They are
given prison labour by the Government, and bands of
prisoners, in red caps, with a guard over them, may
be seen working in the fields round. They all reside
on the spot, and the monks not only employ their
labour but reclaim their lives.
* Acts xxviii. 14. These sites were 43 and 23 Roman miles
respectively from the city gate
dom.
S. PAUL'S 123
Here according to tradition Paul was beheaded,
and his head bounding three times on the earth, three
fountains sprang up at the spots, each at a different
level! The Church upon the site was built in 1599 by s. Paolo
Cardinal Aldobrandini, G. della Porta being the archi- alle Tre
tect*. Panvinius mentions the three little chapels, one Fontane.
more beautiful than the other, with three fountains,
" whence the entire church is called ' of the Three
Fountains.' "
M. de Maumigny restored it in 1865, when the place
was given to his compatriots the French Trappists.
The ancient cosmatesque pavement was then found,
at different levels, and with marbled descents obviously
leading to the three springs. Two old columns w^ere
found in situ, forming part of an ancient edifice dis-
posed as a running Portico. Marble decorations of
the VI. century were also discovered ; and a fragment
recording the name of Paul and that of Pope Sergius
(687). An inscription of Gregory the Great's at the
monastery of S. Paolo also records " Aqua Salvias "
as the site of Paul's decapitation. The Trappists
when digging for water in 1878 came on some ancient
money of the time of Nero, and a quantity of pine cones,
nearly fossilized by time, lying at a great depth. The
anonymous Greek Acts, edited by Tischendorf, though
full of legendary matter and apocryphal, narrate that
Paul suffered tiear a pine-tree. This discovery there-
fore is very curious.
In one corner of the church is a piece of a column
on which it is said Paul was beheaded. It perhaps
belonged to the ancient building. On the pavement is
a mosaic representing the 4 seasons, found at Ostia.
The 3 altars are decorated with rare black porphyry
columns.
88. VINCENZO ED ANASTA8I0. — Honorius I. erected a
church in honour of these martyrs, in 625-26, which
was restored by Adrian I. that indefatigable restorer
of Christian sites, and rebuilt in 796 by Led III.
Honorius also erected a monastery, restored in 1128.
Interior.
124 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The church, under the title of S. Anastasius, is among
those visited by Siric Archbishop of Canterbury in
990*. When the monastery and probably also the
church were restored by Innocent II., he placed S.
AD. 1 128. Bernard and his monks here, assigning farms and vine-
yards for their maintenance. The first Abbot was
Pietro Bernardo Pisano, afterwards Eugenius III.
(1145)-
There is something very attractive in this inornate
church, with a wide nave and 2 aisles, divided by 8
arches and pilasters. An oblong window frame over
each arch is pierced with 3 rows of circular windows
now filled with glass but anciently with alabaster.
Frescoes of the Apostles, painted by Raphael's pupils
from his designs, form the only ornamentation, but
these have been bedaubed by later hands. There
are no side chapels; the flat roof is of open woodwork.
At the east end are the high altar and 2 chapels.
The door is always open, and is approached by a
portico supported by granite columns, the exterior of
the church resembling all old basilicas. Four windows,
similar to those described over the aisle arches, decorate
the fagade. A notice begs those who enter the church
to keep silence while there.
The relics and ikon of the Persian martyr Anas-
tasius, who suffered in 626 when this church was
building, were sent here by the Emperor Heraclius.
Charlemagne bestowed lands in Siena on the church.
In the adjeining cloister some ruinous frescoes, prob-
ably of the XIV. century, relating to a funeral and
mass in this edifice, still exist.
In altering the level on account of the great humidity
of the site, some Armenian inscriptions were found,
with the name of Gregory the Illuminator, of Paul, and
of S. Constantine the emperor, in the East regarded
as a saint. In the xii. century then a monastery of
Armenians existed here, as also at the great Basilica
near by.
• MS. at the British Museum.
Exterior.
Another
S. Anas-
tasius.
Armenian
remains.
S. PAUL'S 125
S. MARIA SCALA C(ELI. — The third church on this
beautiful site is S. Maria Scala Coeh, anciently known
as Mansio S. Dei Genitricis Maria. The name " Ladder
of heaven " is derived from a vision of S. Bernard's,
who when celebrating mass here saw a ladder reaching
to heaven, by w^hich the souls freed from torment as-
cended. Cardinal A. Farnese commenced the work of
rebuilding it, which was completed by Cardinal Aldo-
brandini, the architect being Vignola, and later Delia
Porta. In the Chapel of S. Bernard to the left, are
Francesco Zucca's mosaics (on the vault), representing
the Madonna and Child, with SS. Zeno, Vincent,
Anastasius, and Bernard, and below Clement VIII.,
and Cardinal Farnese, then Abbe Commendataire of
Tre Fontane. It is held to be the only good modern
mosaic of the kind.
From here we descend to a chapel of S. Zeno on
the site, it is said, where he and many other martyrs
were interred. According to an ecclesiastical tradition,
the 12,000 Christians employed in building the Baths
of Diocletian were buried at this spot.
An early Christian cemetery in fact existed here :
and a fragment of a 11 1. century Christian inscription,
and a glass phial affixed to one of the tombs, have
been found. The cell where it is said Paul was con-
fined previous to his execution, and the altar at which
Bernard had his vision, are also shown in this subter-
Feast days. — June 30 (S. Paul) and January 22 (S. Vincent the
deacon, and S. Anastasius the Persian monk).
For the lives of these two titular saints, see p. 350.
CHAPTER VII.
S. Maria Maggiore — S. Sebastiano — S. Croce in Gerusalevime —
5. Lorenzo — An account of the saint — S. Agnese — S. Costanza.
S. Maria Maggiore. — The origin of this great church
is attributed to the dream of two Roman patricians,
a certain Johannes and his wife who being childless
vowed their wealth to the Blessed Virgin, and were
then separately admonished in a dream to build a church
where snow should be found on August 5. This was
speedily told to Pope Liberius (352-366), who declared
he had been favoured with a similar vision. Now in
this same night, snow had fallen on the summit of the
Esquiline Hill ; here Liberius and all the clergy and
people found it ; and here John Patritius and his wife
built the great basilica with their substance. It has
been called the Liherian basilica, and may be considered
as a monument to the creed of Nicaea, and to the
return of Liberius, who from his having temporized
with the Arians had been for some time regarded as a
heretic.''' The church is also known as S. Maria ad
Nives, of the Snow. In 432 it was rebuilt by Sixtus III.,
who placed the magnificent mosaics there ; and it was
then that the basilica was dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin. The Liber PontificaHs says he built the
basilica of his name, near the market of Livia ; it is also
referred to as Basilicam S. Maria qua ah antiquis Liherii
* In order to return to Rome. Liberius, who had courageously
borne persecution and exile for his faith, signed a creed drawn up
at Sirmium by the Arian bishops, a.d. 258.
MAJOR BASILICAS 127
cognominabatur, juxta macellmn Livia (The basilica of
S. Mary, which anciently was called the Liberian, by
the market of Livia).
From the vi. century the name ad Prasepe or post
Pfasepe was given to the church, on account of the
relic of the culla, or boards of the manger at Bethlehem,
which is preserved there. The appellation ad Nives
does not appear till after the x. century. On the a.d. 366.
death of Liberius, the church was taken possession of
by Ursicinius, the antipope to Damasus, after the dual
election. A fight between the partisans of the two
popes ensued, and De Rossi has discovered in the
Vatican archives a rescript of Valentinian's, ordering
the Prefect of Rome to restore the basilica to the right-
ful bishop.* The church is here called basilica Sicinini,
because it was held by the schismatics who followed
Ursicinius.
This is the oldest church solemnly dedicated to the
Madonna in Rome, and is also the largest. For 1,450
years it has been known as Basilica S. Marige, and
Basilica Major, or Greater. f
As it stands, this beautiful church has more of the
characteristics of a great basilica than any other within
the city. The original plan of the enlarged Sixtian
edifice has been preserved, and consists of a great nave a.d. 432.
and two aisles, divided by thirty -six Greek white
marble columns]: with Ionic capitals. On the entabla-
ture rest thirty-six fluted Corinthian pilasters. This
fine entablature is broken by the two modern arches
and gray granite columns, placed as entrances to the
transept chapels by Paul V. and Benedict XIV. The
nave is 280 feet long, and nearly 60 feet wide. The
roof is flat. The presbytery is apsidal, with the altar
in the usual basilica position, facing the nave. The
confession contains the relics of the apostle Matthias.
* Codex Vat., 4961.
t From the xiv. century it has been known as S. Maria
Maggiore, S. Mary Major.
\ From the temple, it is said, of Juno Lucina.
128 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The church is usually entered by one of the doors,
that to the right, at the apse-end. It is approached by
a magnificent flight of steps, this fa9ade being the
work of Carlo Rainaldi. The two doors at this end
were opened in the xiv. century by Cardinal d'Estoute-
ville.
S. Maria The Sixtian church was not much modified until
Maggiore the XII. century when Eugenius III. completely re-
^^'M\ newed the interior, and erected a fa9ade and portico.
ages, and The Roman Senate erected an altar to S. Gregory in
to 1741. the nave, while Giacomo and Vinia Capocci erected a
reliquary chapel in 1256. Next to this was an altar
with the image of the Madonna, attributed to S. Luke,
erected by the Senate and Roman people. To these
was added the ancient chapel of the presepio, and from
1288-1294. the time of Nicholas IV. the chapels began to multiply
and change the aspect of the primitive basilica. Some
24 stood on either side, in the corners, even in the
middle of the aisles.
In 1575 Gregory XIII. entirely repaired the build-
ing. In 1586, Sixtus V. erected the famous chapel to
the right of the tribune ; and the chapel of S. Jerome,
where the saint's body lay, was destroyed. In 1611
Paul V. erected the Borghese Chapel, on the opposite
side. Finally Benedict XIV., in 1741, completely
renewed the interior, and made the principal fa9ade.
Entering from the Piazza dell' Esquilino, in which
the old Via delle 4 Fontane terminates, we find ourselves
The by the apsidal tribune of the church. On the great
tribune arch, Sixtus III., who reconstructed and embellished
and arch, ^^lis basilica as a memorial of the Council of Ephesus,*
has placed in mosaic a cross, with Peter and Paul on
either hand, and above, the emblems of the Evangelists.
The Annunciation, the Presentation in the Temple, the
adoration of the Magi, the slaughter of the Innocents,
and the Dispute with the Doctors in the Temple, are
* The Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius, who distin-
guished two persons in Christ, and declared Mary to be Theotokos,
or Mother of God.
MAJOR BASILICAS 129
the appropriate Gospel scenes represented : and Sixtus
has dedicated his work in an inscription To the people
of God : XYSTus episcopus sanxt^ plebi DEI. On
the flanks of the arch are represented the two mystical
cities, decorated with precious stones, the faithful at
their doors, represented as sheep."
The mosaics of the apse are much later ; they were Mosaics,
placed in the time of Nicholas IV., at the end of the
thirteenth century, and are the work of Giacomo 1295.
Turrita, the great mosaicist, who did them for Jacopo
Cardinal Colonna. The Redeemer and the Blessed
Virgin, seated on a throne, are surrounded by angels ;
He places a crown on her head, and on a book in His
hand are inscribed the words : " Come My elect and
I will place thee in My throne." The attitude repre-
sents the verse in the Canticle of Canticles : " His left
hand under my head, and His right hand shall em-
brace me"; which are referred to the Coronation of the
Virgin. Peter, Paul, the two Johns, S. Francis, and
S. Antony of Padua, with Nicholas IV. and Cardinal
Colonna introduced as tiny figures, stand on either
hand. Below is the sea, and in the centre the Mount,
from which flow the Four Rivers, the Celestial Jerusa-
lem in their midst. An inscription beneath tells us
that Nicholas IV. re-made this temple of the Virgin,
which was ruinous, " making the old things new." At
the same time Cardinal Colonna adorned the exterior
of the apse with mosaics, which have perished. The
Blessed Virgin was depicted between Agnes, Cecilia,
Lucia, and Caterina ; and the Epiphany was also
represented. Between the windows, underneath, Gaddo
Gaddi has depicted the usual scenes from the life of
the Virgin : the Purification, Annunciation, Nativity,
Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, and
her Death.
The High Altar rests on a sarcophagus of red por- High
phyry which stood anciently in the narthex, and was Altar.
* They have often been restored, but are still formed for the
most part on the original v, century moulds.
9
I30 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
believed to contain the remains of the founders."
The baldacchino was designed by Fuga {temp. Bene-
dict XIV.), and rests on 4 Corinthian red porphyry
columns ; the angels by P. Bracci. The confession,
with its semicircular atrium, is approached by 2
flights of steps, and was decorated with columns of
Egyptian alabaster and coloured marbles by Pius IX.,
the designs being those of Virginio Vespignani. The
Borghese Borghese or Paolina Chapel is to the left as we face the
Chapel, tribune. It is one of the richest in Rome. It was
erected in 161 1 by Paul V., and is the property of the
Borghese family. Flaminio Ponzio was the architect.
Over the altar is the image of the Madonna which
was believed in the middle ages to have been painted
by S. Luke, and which was removed here from the
chapel in the nave. The copy of a Papal Bull at-
tached to the wall affirms the picture to have been
painted by the Evangelist : P. Garrucci asserts that
it is certainly not older than the v. century ; and
Baronius hazards a conjecture that this was the image
carried in the great procession by Gregory the Great,
A.D. 590. The altar-piece is of fluted jasper. Above
the picture is Stefano Maderno's bronze bas-relief, repre-
senting Liberius tracing the church in the miraculous
snow. The frescoes on the pendants below the cupola
and round the altar are by Cav. d' Arpino ; those on
the arches and between the windows by Guido, the
Madonna by Lanfranco ; the Madonna standing on
a crescent moon in the cupola is by Cigoli. The
monument of Paul V. is by pupils of Bernini ; that of
Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini) by Mochi, Pietro Ber-
nini, and others ; but the statues of both popes are
the work of Silla da Viggiu. The statues of Aaron,
Athanasius, and Bernard are by Niccolo Cordieri. The
* The inscription, obviously a later one, is now on the walls of
the baptistery :
loHANNis Patritii huics Basilic^e Fundatoris sepulchrum.
In 1746 the sarcophagus was opened, and remains of a man and
woman found, with balsams and pieces of stuff.
MAJOR BASILICAS 131
chapels as we enter, dedicated to Charles Borromeo
and Francesca Romana, are painted by Croce and
Baglioni. In the crypt beneath are the tombs of the
Borghese family ; and here Gwendoline Talbot wife of
Prince Borghese, lies.
Crossing the nave, we enter the Chapel of the Cappella
Blessed Sacrament, built by Sixtus V. in 1586, Fon- Sistina.
tana being the architect. It is in the form of a Greek
cross. It is richly decorated with marbles and monu-
ments. In the centre is a large tabernacle in bronze,
supported by 4 angels : this way of placing the holy
sacrament high above the altar is the ancient mode
in which it was reserved. Below is the Chapel of
the Culla, or cradle ; the chapel was removed here as
it stood, by means of the imperfect machinery of the
time, from the original site 70 palms distant. This
chapel was commenced by Innocent III., and com-
pleted by Honorius III., the artist being Arnolfo di
Lapo. Here are preserved the three boards from the The Culla.
manger at Bethlehem, which constitute the relic called
the culla. They were brought from Palestine, accord-
ing to some, by Gregory III. (731), and according to
others by Theodorus (642), both of Palestinian or
Syrian origin. The first Mass of Christmas night
used to be sung at this little altar by the Pope ; after
which the culla was, and still is, borne in procession
from a room off the baptistery, where it was exposed to
view, to the altar of the Presepio.
The papal monuments here are of Sixtus V. and
Pius V. ; the first by Valsoldo, the second by Sarzana.
The historic bas-reliefs are chiefly the work of Flemish
artists, and refer to these two pontificates. Those on
the papal tombs are by Cordieri. The frescoes are by
Pozzo, Cesare Nebbia, and others. The statue of
Dominic is by G.-B. della Porta ; that of S. Gaetano
da Tiene, by Bernini. The little chapel as we enter,
to the right, dedicated to S. Lucia, has as its altar a
fourth-century Christian sarcophagus, with the usual
subjects in relief, and a medallion of Petronius Probus,
9—2
132 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
who became a Christian through his distinguished wife
Faltonia Proba, and was Consul a.d. 341. The whole
chapel was repaired by Pius IX., under Vespignani's
direction. This chapel was begun when Sixtus V.
was Cardinal Peretti, and it is said that Gregory XIII.
stopped his stipend on the ground that the Cardinal
must be a rich man to undertake so great a work. It
was then that Fontana generously placed all his
savings at Peretti's disposal, and the work proceeded.
The events recorded in the bas-reliefs on the tomb of
Pius v., by Cordieri, are the Battle of Lepanto, and
the Pope sending aid to Charles IX. of France in his
conflict with the Huguenots.
Baptis- On the same side as the Cappella Sistina, at the end
tery. of that aisle, is the Baptistery, the work of Ponzio,
converted into a baptistery by Leo XII. The font is a
basin of red porphyry, the bronze adornments by
Valadier. The Assumption over the altar, is by Ber-
nini. From here opens the sacristy, with a picture of
the Madonna and Child by Gaetani, and frescoes by
Passignani. On the other side is a passage containing
a bronze statue of Paul V.
Gothic Outside the baptistery is the beautiful Gothic tomb
tombs. of Cardinal Gonsalvo, Bishop of Albano, the work of
G. Cosma, with the date 1299; and a mosaic of the
Madonna with SS. Matthias and Jerome, above. Here
also are the monuments to Nicholas IV., raised by
Sixtus v., the work of Sarzana ; a monument to
Clement IX., with sculptures by Guidi, Ercole Fer-
rata, and FancelH, erected by Clement X.; and the
tomb-stone of Platina the author of the " Lives of the
Pontiffs," at the other end of the right aisle. By the
principal entrance, at the extremity of the left aisle,
are the tombs of Cardinal and of Archbishop De Levis,
of Aries, of the early xvi. century.
In the left aisle is the Cappella Cesi, belonging to
the Massimi, with two monuments to Cardinals Cesi
by Delia Porta ; and the Sforza Chapel, designed by
Michelangelo, which is the Winter Choir of the Cations
MAJOR BASILICAS 133
where the Divine office is said ; the Assumption over
the altar is by Girolamo da Sermoneta,
The pavement of this uniquely beautiful basilica is
of the Cosmatesque work called Alexandrine, of the
XIII. century. The roof was designed by Sangallo, Roof,
and the 5 rows of panelling into which it is divided
are said to have been decorated with the first gold
brought from South America, presented by Ferdinand
and Isabella to Alexander VI. This work had been
begun by Callistus III., and was completed by Alex-
ander when Cardinal of this church.
Above the entablature between the pilasters, on both Mosaics
sides of the nave, are the other famous mosaics, placed of the
by Sixtus III. in 432, representing scenes from the ^^^^•
Old Testament — the lives of Moses, Joshua, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. These, and the mosaics of the great
arch are mentioned by Adrian I. in a letter to Charle-
magne (a.d. 771) as having been placed by Sixtus.
The aspect of the church, which is S.E. (principal
entrance) and N.W. (apse), makes it almost impossible
to see these well ; the good light is in the morning.
Going out by the great entrance on to the Piazza Fa9ade.
S. Maria Maggiore, we see the fa9ade erected in
1 74 1 from Fuga's designs. The new fa9ade, with its
balcony for the Benediction, which was always given
from here on the Feast of the Assumption, has de-
stroyed much of the xii. century mosaic that adorned
the fa9ade of Eugenius III. This mosaic is in 2
tiers : above, in an oval, is Christ enthroned be-
tween four angels ; on the book in His hand are the
words, "Ego sum lux mundi qui." The artist has
placed his name under the footstool, Philipp Rtisuti.
Below this oval stand 8 saints : the Madonna inscribed
MHP GT, who held in her hand an open book ; next
is Paul, and on his volume is written, Michi vive. XC
(" To me to live is Christ ") ; then James as a pil-
grim ; then Jerome ; on the other side, the Baptist ;
Peter, with his confession, " Thou art the Christ ";
Andrew, who had written, " I have found the Messiah,
134 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
which is, being interpreted, the Christ "; then Matthias,
with his sentence of the Creed, " I beheve in the resur-
rection and eternal hfe." The figures of James and
Peter, Cardinals Colonna, who made the mosaic, have
perished. In the lower tier the Madonna appears to
Liberius in a dream ; it is mutilated, but the inscrip-
tion" in very abbreviated Latin says " Virgo Maria
apparuit papae Liberio dicens fac mihi ecclesiam
in montem Superagio sicut nix indicat."t The next
scene is the apparition to the two founders ; in the
next, Liberius seated on a faldstool hears John's
account of the vision ; in the last scene, Christ and the
Madonna cause the snow to fall, and Liberius, John,
and the people mark out a church in it.
Cam- The campanile, one of the finest though not one of the
panile. most ancient in Rome, is of the time of Eugenius IIL
(1145), rebuilt by Gregory XL on his return to Rome
from Avignon, and restored by Paul V. The spire is
Monas- a later addition. Round the basilica congregated 4
teries. monasteries ; one dedicated to SS. Andrew and
Stephen ; the second to SS. Cosma and Damian ; the
third of S. Andrew, with a basilica dedicated to that
Apostle by Simplicms, a.d. 468-483 ;| the fourth under
the invocation of SS. Laurence, Praxedis, Agnes, and
Adrian. § In the xiv. century the first of these became
a hospital ; the third was occupied by the convent of
S. Antonio, now the military hospital ; the fourth was
the convent of S. Prassede, close by.
The From a passage in the Liber Pontificalis, in the
ancient record of the acts of Paschal I., we learn, says De
apse. Rossi, that the tribune of S. Maria Maggiore was
* This inscription shows that the Esquiline used to be called
Sjipera^to, a reminiscence of the agger of Servius Tullius, which
ran across the front of the site of the basilica (De Rossi,
Musaici).
t The Virgin Mary appeared to Pope Liberius, saying : " Make
me a church on the hill Superagio, as the snow shall indicate."
I Lib. Pont, in Simplicio.
§ An ancient church dedicated to S. Agnese existed by S.
Prassede to the time of Pius V.
MAJOR BASILICAS 135
anciently constructed with open arches communicating
with an ambulacrum. The passage states that the
pontiff could not speak to his assistants without speak-
ing across the women. De Rossi hence concludes
that the place reserved for women in the basilica was
in the tribune behind the episcopal chair, a portion
incorporated later with the presbytery. Women had
their places here in the time of Paschal I. ; the same
arrangement obtained at S. Sebastiano Fuori, and in
the apse of SS. Cosma and Damian in the Forum, and
is found also in Naples.
This celebrated church has witnessed two historical
scenes : the first being the slaughter of the followers of
Ursicinius, soon after it was built ; the other the
abduction of Gregory VII., Hildebrand, in 1075, on
Christmas day, when Cencio and his companion
conspirators laid violent hands on him at the altar ;
and here Hildebrand was brought back in triumph
shortly after, to finish his interrupted Mass.
The Kings of Spain were protectors of the basilica of
S. Maria Maggiore.
Feast day. — August 5 (Titular and Dedication feast).
The Station is on the 2nd Wednesday in Lent.
S. SEBASTIANO, on the Via Appia, on the right hand
after passing the cemetery of Callistus. The original
appellation of this ancient basilica appears to have been
SS. Peter and Paul. It marks the site where the bodies
of the Apostles rested. It is recorded of the martyr-
bishop Quirinus, whose image is in the crypt of S. Cecilia
at S. Callistus, but whose body was buried here ad
Catacumbas, that he lay in basilica apostolorum Petri et
Pauli ubi aliquando Jacuenmt et nbi S. Sebastia nus re-
quiescit.
In the visitation of Urban VIII., it is asserted that
the walls of the church must have belonged to an
ancient Gentile fabric ; and Bosius says that the church
was built " per quanto si puo vedere, sopra le fonda-
menta d'un antico edificio di Gentili."
The erection of this basiHca is attributed to Con-
136 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
stantine ; and it is one of the seven churches of pilgrimage.
Unfortunately Cardinal Scipio Borghese remodelled
and restored away the ancient building, in 1611, from
the designs of Flaminio Ponzio, so that the present
church is a xvii. century structure. The portico
and fa9ade were then added. The interior consists
of a single nave, the wooden roof being the same
Cardinal's work, from designs of the Fleming Vasanzio,
together with the portico and frontage. To the left is
Chapel of the chapel of S. Sebastian, which it will be observed
S. Sebas- is not placed in the usual spot for the titular martyr or
tian. saint of a church. The present chapel is the work of
Ciro Ferri, and the recumbent statue of the martyr by
Bernini's pupil, A. Giorgetti.
Before 161 1 could be seen the original altar placed
and dedicated by Honorius III. (12 16), under which
lay the martyr's remains in the urn which we still see.
But the level at which this altar stood was the
primitive level — in luogo profondo, as it is described by
Bosius — in which Lucina buried this celebrated martyr,
at "the mouth of the crypts." This interesting crypt
had been preserved and incorporated with the basilica
by means of a staircase leading to it ; to-day it lies
empty and neglected beneath the present confession/'-
The earliest notice of S. Sebastian's shrine is of the
time of Innocent I. (402-417) ; it consists in the follow-
ing votive inscription placed there, and now in the
Lateran Museum : "In the time of S. Innocent, bishop,
Proclinus and Ursus, priests of the titulus Bizantis, have
made this to the holy martyr Sebastian, ex votoJ"
Right On the right, the first altar contains relics, and is
Aisle. enclosed behind a grating ; the secojid chapel has a
Madonna and S. Anna with the divine Child in her
arms. The third altar has a picture of the Assumption.
The fourth chapel has a statue of S. Fabian, pope and
* When Adrian I. restored the old church [in ruinis prcBventam
a novo restauravit), Sebastian's crypt was arranged so as to form
the confession of the altar placed above at the level of the basilica.
The body now however as we see lies above.
MAJOR BASILICAS 137
martyr. In the tribune is a fresco of the Crucifixion.
The third chapel on the left is dedicated to S. Francis, Left Aisle,
who is represented ; the second is an altar with a ,
picture of S. Charles Borromeo.
Opposite to the Chapel of S. Fabian is the entrance Subter-
to the subterranean Chapel of SS. Peter and Paul (see ranean
Cemetery ad catacimbas). On the left-hand side of the '^'^^P^'-
nave, over a doorway, is an xviii. century inscription,
in Latin and Italian, relating to S. Philip Neri, who
here passed days and nights in prayer in a room adjacent,
and in a crypt below ; and S. Sebastiano formed the
centre-point of his " pilgrimages to the seven churches,"
the cemetery beneath being as we know mistaken for
the illustrious catacomb of Callistus.
Of the few ancient remains to be found here, one is
the Damasine carmen on Eutychius, whose tomb is
here ; it is on the left of the entrance.
The Benedictines were placed here by Alexander III., Monas-
and to this period belongs a fragment which has been tery.
employed in the subterraneum : " . . . esima abba
TissA. ... DE. . . ." To the Benedictines suc-
ceeded, in the xvii. century, the reformed Cistercians.
Finally Gregory XVI. gave the church into the care
of the Minor Observants of S. Francis, of the Roman
province, who now possess it.
The Libri Indulgentiarum place S. Sebastiano, with
the cemetery beneath, " of Callixtus," next after the
basilicas of SS. Peter and Paul. It was made a
parochial church by Clement XL
Here Gregory the Great preached his thirty-seventh
homily on the Gospels.
Ruins of other Christian buildings may still be
traced round the basilica. One of these was a
church in honour of S. Maximus ; another to S.
Quirinus.
In the Jubilee of 1575, the charts "of the seven
churches " mention " the portrait of S. Sebastian before
the portico." This has disappeared.
Feast day. — January 20.
138 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
B. 8BBABTIAK. — The Fcast of S. Sebastian is kept with
that of Pope Fabian. He was martyred during the
reign of Carinus and Numerianus, in 270 a.d. His acts
were compiled in the v. century, at least 100 years
after the events; they are embellished, and not of much
value, and the chronology is erroneous. His father is
said to have come from the ancient Narbonensis (Nar-
bonne), and his mother from Milan. The Acta call him
commander of the first cohort under Diocletian, and
say that being secretly a Christian, he assisted the
Christians in every way, and exhorted to constancy
those who dreaded the torture. Amongst these were
the brothers Marcus and Marcellianus, who were kept
in charge of one Nicostratus, whose wife Zoe was
healed by Sebastian. These things were told to
Diocletian, who, with much vehemence, and by every
means in his power, strove to turn Sebastian from the
faith. Failing in this, he ordered him to be bound to
a stake and shot with arrows. Being then, in the
opinion of all, left for dead, a holy woman called Irene,
who had obtained the necessary permission to bury
him, had him carried away by night, and cured him in
her house. When he was strong, he again met
Diocletian, and freely charged him with his impiety.
The Emperor, stupefied at seeing one he believed to
be dead, yet the more burning with rage against him,
ordered that he should be beaten till he died. His
body was then thrown into a drain. But Lucina
being, it is said, told by Sebastian in a dream where
his body lay, and where he wished to be buried,
buried him ad catacmnbas : '^Jnxta vestigia apostolorum,"
it is recorded.
Gregory IV. removed his body to the Vatican, and
Honorius III. retranslated it to S. Sebastiano, a.d.
1218.
The subject of Irene curing the wounds of Sebastian
has been treated in art. S. Sebastian cannot be mis-
taken in pictures ; he is tied to the stake, the shot
arrows in his body.
MAJOR BASILICAS 139
S. CROCE IN GEEUSALEMME.— It is stated in the Liber
Pontificalis of Sylvester I. that this basiUca owes its
origin to the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, History,
and it is possible that she erected on this site a chapel
in which to deposit the rehc of the true cross said to
have been brought by her from Calvary. Two in-
scriptions found in the vicinity do certainly connect her
name with the basilica. The first, much mutilated, is
now in the Vatican Museum ; the other is cut upon a
pedestal which now supports the statue of the Empress
in the lower chapel of Helena, and is not later in date
than 327," the year of Constantine's absence from
Rome, when Helena went to visit the sacred places in
the Holy Land.
Ruins of the imperial palace of Sextus Varius, father
of Heliogabalus, called the Sessorian Palace, still exist
close to the church, and gave their name to the neigh-
bouring gate of S. Maria Maggiore, which was origin-
ally called Porta Sessoriana. It was perhaps in a portion
of this palace that Helena erected the basilica. It was
not called "Santa Croce " until after the iv. century.
It was first known as Basilica Heleniana and is so
called under Sixtus III. in 433, when a council was
held in it ; then as Sancta Hierusalem, and for a long
time it was the custom for the Pope to hold in his hand
a golden rose during the ceremonies performed in this
church on the fourth Sunday in Lent, symbolizing the
joys of the celestial garden in mystic Jerusalem.!
♦ Dominas nostrse fl . iul
Helense piisimae . aug
Genetrici . d . n . costan
Tini . maximi . victoris
Clementissimi . semper
augusti . aviae constat!
tini . at constanti . beatis
simorum . ac . florentis
simorum principum
Julius maximilianus . v . c . comes
Pietati eivs semper dicatis.
f De Rossi, Bull, d' Arch. Christ., 1872. See also Part II. for
another suggested meaning.
I40 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Gregory the Great declared Santa Croce a titular
church, and it was entirely repaired by Gregory II.
in 720, and again by Lucian II. (1144-1145) and
Eugenius III. (i 145- 1 153). Through the middle ages
it was one of the 7 pilgrimage churches.
Monas- The annexed monastery was built by Benedict VII.
ten'- in 975, as an inscription therein still records, and
History. ^^^ ^X. (1049-1055) gave it to the Abbot of Monte
Cassino. Alexander II, (1061-1073), however, sub-
stituted the canons regular of S. Frediano of Lucca,
who held it for 270 years, retaining the privilege of
choosing from their own number the titular of the
church.
During the sojourn of the popes at Avignon, Santa
Croce was deserted, and almost fell into ruins, a fate
which befell many buildings at this time. It was
however once more restored by Urban V. about 1370,
with money left by two members of the Orsini family
for the purpose of erecting a Carthusian monastery in
this neighbourhood.
Carthusian monks were therefore established in Santa
Croce, and these remained until the time of Pius IV.
(1559-1566), who removed here the Cistercians of
S. Sabba. A portion of the Cistercian monastery is
now used as a barrack by the Italian Government.
The church retained its primitive basilica form until
the pontificate of Benedict XIV., who destroyed the
ancient fa9ade and portico, and substituted the present
facade and oval vestibule in 1774 from the designs of
Passalacque. This Pope also removed part of the hill
then existing between S. Croce and the Lateran, which
obscured the view from the former, and made it difficult
of access. This hill was anciently called Monte Cipolantw,
from the garlic and onions grown upon it for the feast
of S. Giovanni. Onions, a dish of salt, and a broom-
stick, being set outside each door at eleven or twelve
o'clock at night on the eve of S. John, June 23, as a
protection against the witches believed to be let loose
on that day !;
MAJOR BASILICAS 141
It is said that Innocent III. (11 98- 12 16) walked in
procession barefoot from the Lateran to S. Croce to
implore victory against the Saracens.
The interior of the church has retained little of its Interior,
original form. Some of its ancient columns were en-
cased in masonry for greater strength when the new
roof was made by Benedict XIV., and only 8, of
red and gray Egyptian granite, still remain visible.
The vault of the roof is painted by Giacquinto, and
the paintings of the apse, representing the discovery
and placing in this church of the relic of the true cross,
have been attributed to Perugino and Pinturicchio,
though on doubtful grounds.
In the interior of the portico are 4 granite columns,
and 2 of bigio lumachellata.
Above the high altar is a baldacchino upon 4 pillars
— two oi porta santa, and two of breccia corallina ; beneath
is a fine urn of green basalt, containing the relics of
SS. Cesareo and Anastasio.
The most antique portion of the basilica is the Chapel of
chapel of S. Helena in the crypt. This is another S. Helena.
Christian monument closed to women, as an inscrip-
tion upon the wall states. The vault of this chapel is
covered with mosaics, said to date from the Emperor
Valentinian III. (425), but much restored and re-
touched. They represent Christ between the 4 Evan-
gelists, with S. Helena and S. Sylvester.
Over the altar a picture by Rubens used to stand,
now in England, and replaced by a statue of S. Helena.
On either side are statues of Peter and Paul, of the
XII. century. The floor of this chapel is said to have
been covered with earth brought from Jerusalem by
Helena.
The ciborium of the high altar of the church is the High
work of the great marble carvers, the brothers Sassi, ^\fi^ .
whose names appear in an inscription upon it. The nun»-
name of Vassalectus has also recently been found.
Another interesting inscription upon the sepulchral Inscrip-
slab of Benedict VII. (974-983), on the right of the tions.
142 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
entrance, records the misdeeds of the Antipope Boni-
face VII., who invaded the Holy See in 974, killed
Benedict VI. (972-973), and robbed the treasures of
the Vatican basilica. Other interesting and important
inscriptions have been attached to the wall in and near
the vestibule.
The relic of the true cross, which consists of the
title written in the three languages, was found walled
up in one of the arches of the apse during some restora-
tions undertaken by Cardinal Mendoza in 1492. Other
relics are preserved in this church, which are shown
on Good Friday, on May 3, and in the afternoon of
the fourth Sunday in Lent.
Here Pope Sylvester II. (Gerbert) died while cele-
brating mass in- 1003.
The bell tower dates from 1196.
Feast days. — Invention of the Cross, May 3 ; Exaltation of the
Cross, September 14 ; Dedication of the Chapel of S. Helena,
March 20.
The Station is on Good Friday, and on the 4th Sunday in
Lent.
For the account of Helena's finding of the cross, see
Part II. of this handbook.
THE BASILICA OF s. LOBENZO is one of the 7 founda-
tions attributed to Constantine. The itineraries of the
VII. century distinguish 2 basilicas — the church at-
tributed to Constantine, which, first restored in the
middle of the v. century under Sixtus III. at the
cost of Galla Placidia, was certainly reconstructed
by Pelagius II, (578-590), and was called Basilica
Speciosior or Nova ; and the Basilica Maior — mentioned
by the Liber Pontificalis in the life of Adrian I.
(771-792), and in that of Hilary (461), and clearly
indicated by the Salzburg Itinerary in the early
VII. century — which was dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin.*
The first church was built in the midst of the
* In basilica majove quce appellatur S. Dei Genitricis, qua adharet
beat! Laurentii. Lib. Pont., in Adriano.
MAJOR BASILICAS 143
cemetery, its level corresponding with that of the lower
galleries. A basilica here is mentioned by Prudentius,*
while in the most ancient recension of the Liber Ponti-
ficahs which ends with the name of Felix IV. (526),
Constantine is declared to have been its author. This
church ad corpus was small, in order that the cemetery
might not be disturbed. The Pelagian reconstruction
having taken place some 120 years after the probable
date of the Basilica Maior, became thenceforth known
as Basilica Nova.
Again in the time of Leo IV. (850) we read of
the " Basilica sanctae Dei Genitricis Juxta basiUcam
S. Laurentii " : and so the two buildings remained
di'stinct until the end of the xii. century.
The level of the Constantinian basilica of S. Lorenzo
was the same as that of the lower part of the church
to which we descend to-day ; the door was on the east
side, where the sepulchre of Pius IX. is now. The
apse of the Pelagian church was back to back with
the apse of the v. century church, and there was
probably a communication between them.
In 1 2 16 Honorius III. constructed the basilica as
we now see it by uniting the two churches. The
whole basilica was made to open towards the west,
and the present portico was erected. This necessitated
the destruction of the Pelagian apse, but the upper
part remains in the mosaic which decorates the face
of the present arch. The first Constantinian church
was so buried in the cemetery that the great work of
Pelagius consisted in " removing the darkness." He
demovit tenebras, we are told, by raising the walls and
the floor ; he also added another column each side,
thus increasing the space. We see that the bases of
these are higher than those of the original columns.
Finally he removed a large part of the hill against
which the basilica stands, which owing to inundations
of the Tiber was in a falling condition and threatened
to bury the church.
* Lib. De Coronis, Hymn ii.
144 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Portico. Entering the portico of Honorius, which is supported
by 6 columns, and has 3 entrances to the basiUca,
the paintings round, in a rude style, represent scenes
in the life of Laurence, and prodigies which are said
to have taken place at his tomb as narrated by Gregory
the Great ; as well as the Hfe of the hermit S.
Hyacinth. But the paintings of special interest are
those which represent, to the left, Honorius HI. bless-
ing and communicating Pierre de Courtenay Count
d'Auxerre who was crowned Emperor of the East in
this basilica by Honorius in 121 7, with his wife lole.
These pictures have been recently restored and re-
painted. The paintings of the popes above are modern.
On the left of the central door is a sarcophagus whith
used to stand in the Pelagian church ; the bas-reliefs
represent a vintage, and genii are the vine-gatherers.
It is believed that this sarcophagus contained the body
of Pope Zosimus (417), and then of Damasus H.
(1048). The 2 canopied sarcophagi were brought from
the cloisters. The posts of the central door rest on lions.
(Compare with S. Lorenzo in Lucina, and SS. Giovanni
e Paolo.)
Nave. The Nave, added by Honorius, is divided from 2 aisles
by 22 antique granite and cipollina columns with Ionic
capitals. On the 8th column on the right a frog and
lizard are sculptured ; this has led to the supposition
that this column at least must have been brought from
one of the temples in the portico of Octavia. Pliny
relates that the architects of these temples, Sauros and
Batrachus, asked, as their only reward, to be allowed
to inscribe their names on their work. As this was re-
fused, they sculped a lizard and frog among the orna-
ments, these being the significations of their names.
Fragments which are supposed to refer to the naval
victory of Actium have been found in the ornamenta-
tion near. On either side of the nave, on the wall be-
tween the windows, are represented the story of the
deacon Stephen and that of the deacon Laurence, by
Fracassini. The latter, to the right, is divided into
MAJOR BASILICAS 145
four scenes (beginning at the altar end) : (a) S. Laurence
gives the goods to the poor ; {h) Laurence shows the
Roman officer the "treasure of the church"; (c) his
martyrdom ; (i) his burial.
The subjects are treated with great beauty and
simpHcity. On the left hand of a person entering the
church is the cycle of the protomartyr Stephen.
Before reaching the tribune there are 2 chapels, right
and left ; the latter is cryptal, and reached by stairs ;
the former is the chapel of the Sacrament, and has a
picture representing Cyriaca recovering the body of
Laurence.
Two ambones stand in the nave, at the comers of
that raised portion which constituted the body of the
Pelagian church, but was converted into the tribune
by Honorius. The Gospel ambo has 2 flights of steps.
Near it stands a candelabrum decorated with mosaic,
on a reversed Roman cippus sculptured with birds and
olive. This portion of the church is adorned with 10
antique fluted pavonazzetto and white marble columns.
The entablature consists of antique sculpture and
friezes.
We now ascend to the present pyesbyterium, by 7
steps. On the staircase to the right is an inscription
of the date 1254 (Alexander IV.), which shows that
this portion is later than Honorius. The platform was
erected by Honorius half way up the shafts of the fine
columns above mentioned ; the aisles were filled in,
and have only been again exposed to view and the
columns disengaged in this century.-'' The fine entab-
lature of these columns supports a gallery, which
like that of S. Agnese (the only other instance in
Rome) was intended for women ; the men being in the
nave below. This gallery is surrounded by smaller
columns. In the tribune apse is a marble and mosaic
screen, panelled with green and red porphyry ; in the
centre, an episcopal chair flanked by mosaic twisted
* Early Christian inscriptions and paintings belonging to the
cemetery of S. Cyriaca were then found here.
10
146 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
columns. Over the arch, where originally was the
apse of the Pelagian basilica, and facing the present
apse, is the mosaic placed here by Pelagius ; the Re-
deemer is represented between Peter and Paul, with
SS. Stephen, Lawrence, Hippolytus, and Pope Pelagius
offering the church ; on either side, the mystical cities
of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The pavement is the
cosmatesque called " opus alexandnniim."
Crypt. If we now descend to the nave, a flight of steps on
the left leads to the crypt which formed the vestibule
of the Pelagian church ; part of the primitive pavement
remains. The Madonna and saints and Sixtus III. are
painted in arched niches. The period of the paintings
is about the ix. century. The Confession contains the
marble sarcophagus of SS. Stephen, whose body was
brought here from Constantinople, Laurence, and
Justinus. The stone on which the craticula of S.
Laurence is said to have been laid is behind a bronze
grating. The body of Laurence lies in its original
position. The tabernacle of the high altar just above
this, is dated 1148, and is therefore earlier than the
Honorian church. It was executed by the sons of the
XII. century Roman marble worker, Magister Paulus.
Tomb of Within the last few years the tomb of Pius IX. has
Pius IX. been completed in this portion of the old church. The
marble urn, according to his wish, is very simple, but
the walls have been magnificently decorated in mosaic ;
the arms of the Pope and of all contributors of money
(500 francs or more) towards the work, and, by the
entrance, the armorials of the religious congregations
— " Famiglie Religiose " — are inserted as decoration.*
The principal figures are well chosen : Cyriaca the
founder of the cemetery ; Laurence the Patron of
the basilica ; Francis, who was seen by Innocent III. in
• Pius IX. directed that only a small sum— ;^2oo — should be
spent on his monument. The work we now see, therefore, is the
result of voluntary offerings, and the offerers represent all nations.
Over the simple urn is the Good Shepherd ; Stephen and Lau-
rence on either hand. To the right S. Joseph, between SS.
Francis and Catherine ; to the left, Cyriaca and Agnes.
MAJOR BASILICAS 147
a dream upholding the fallen Lateran (typifying the
Church) ; Catherine, who brought the popes back to
Rome. The crypts of S. Cyriaca were entered from
here ; and there are some old marble fragments to be
seen.
Returning to the entrance of the church, notice on
the left the Roman sarcophagus, with sculptures repre-
senting a marriage. It is now the tomb of the nephew
of Innocent IV., Cardinal dei Fieschi.
The ancient east front of the basilica is very inter-
esting as affording some idea of the relation of the
basilica to the cemetery ; the hill has been cut away
so as to leave it exposed. In the cloisters are arranged
inscriptions from the catacomb beneath.
The present fa9ade of the basilica is painted to imi-
tate mosaic ; the figures are Sixtus III., Pelagius II.,
Adrian I., Honorius III., Pius IX., and Constantine.
They are all modern. The basilica with its chapels,
small churches, and monasteries, was anciently sur-
rounded by a wall, and formed a veritable little town-
ship, as in the case of other basilicas. The Visitation
of Urban VIII. tells us that it used " ad instar castri
circumdatum fuisse," and a large part of the wall
reaching to the Via Tiburtina still existed when the
Visitation was made.
It is very probable that in the iv. century an asci-
tarium of virgines sacra, or society of dedicated women,
existed near the basilica ; at any rate this was one of
the regions where the earliest foundations of religious
women were to be found. An inscription discovered
here bears these words :
ADEODATiE DIGN^ ET MERIT/E VIRGINI
QUIESCIT HIC IN PACE JUBENTE XPO EIUS ;
that is. To Adeodata, the worthy and justly -deserving virgin.
She rests in peace by the will of her Christ. " Adeodata
qui riposa in pace per volere del suo Cristo," De Rossi
translates ; and points out the identity of meaning with
the title of a virgin to-day, " the spouse of Christ."
148 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Near the basilica were found several iv. and v.
century inscriptions, one is :
QUIESCIT IN PACE PRAETEXTATA
(a.D. 464.) VIRGO SACRA DEPOSITA D • VII
ID • AUG • CONS • RUSTICI ET OLYBRI.
Her name shows that she belonged to the noble
Vetti Agori, of whom was Vettius Agorius Praetextatus,
the pagan friend of Pope Damasus, to whom he would
say : " Make me Bishop of Rome, and I will declare myself
a Christian.'"
In the vicinity of the basilica was found the tomb of
a vir clarissimus, Licentius, whom De Rossi supposes
to be the same Licentius beloved by Augustine and
commended by him to Paulinus of Nola ; to whom also
the latter addressed one of his hymns. " Live, I pray
thee, but live to God, for to live to the world is a work
of death, the living life is to live to God " {viva est
vivere vita Deo).
Fragments of two Damasine inscriptions have been
found here.
In the atrium of the basilica, and not far from the
entrance to the Campo Verano, there existed an ancient
oratory to SS. Abbondius and Irenaeus. A church of
S. Stephen is mentioned by the Liber Pontificalis, and
there was also one dedicated to Agapitus.
The basilica of S. Lorenzo is now in the care of the
Franciscans.
Feast day. — August 10.
The Station is on the 3rd Sunday in Lent.
B. LORENZO. — No figure of the early Church in Rome
exceeds in importance that of the martyr Laurentius
(Laurence). His blameless life, his awfial martyrdom,
and its effect on Roman society, combined to give him
in life and in death an extraordinary influence. The
" Acts of S. Laurence " were written in the v. century ;
but the circumstances there recorded are referred to
by the Fathers of the iv. and v. Laurentius was
the first among the 7 deacons of Rome, and therefore
MAJOR BASILICAS 149
its Archdeacon during the episcopate of Sixtus II. (a.d.
257-258). As such he administered the goods of the
Church, and his apprehension on the charge of being
a Christian is certainly due in the first instance to
cupidity. The Church was known to possess treasure,
and Laurentius was asked to give an account of it.
He said he would do so, and appeared before the
Roman officer, leading a band of the poor with him.
" Behold," said he, " the treasure of the Church ; for I
have expended its riches on the poor." Upon this
Laurence was condemned to die ; and there appears to
be little doubt that the great brutality of his martyrdom
was due to his having disappointed his tormentors of
their spoil. He was condemned to the torture of the
burning craticula, or gridiron. But it is said that a few
days before his OAvn death he saw his bishop the aged
Sixtus being led to death, and thus accosted him :
" Where goest thou without thy son, O father ?
Whither goest thou forth, holy priest, without thy
deacon ? Never hast thou been accustomed to offer
the sacrifice without a minister. In what have I dis-
pleased my father ? Hast thou found me a degenerate
son, to whom thou didst commit the ministration of
the Lord's blood?" "I do not leave thee, my son,
or desert thee," said Sixtus, " but a still greater
warfare for the faith of Christ is reserved to thee.
We, as old, have the lightest of the fight, but thou,
O youth, wilt more gloriously triumph over the
tyrant ; in three days the levite shall follow the
priest."
The young deacon showed an heroic constancy,
which excites our wonder and reverence to-day as it
excited a supernatural awe in the men who looked
upon him. Laurentius cried, " I adore my God and
serve Him only, and therefore I fear not thy torments."
It is said that the executioners increased the torment
by insulting him with iron prongs. Laurence said to
them : " This side is done enough, turn me over." The
soldier Hippolytus was standing by, to whom he had
I50 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
said " O Hippolytus if you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, I will show thee great treasures, and promise
thee eternal life." Then praying, " I give Thee thanks,
O Lord, that I have been made fit to enter Thy gates !"
Gratias tibi ago, Domine, quia januas tuas ingndi merui,
he died in that torment.
The circumstance that while he was on the revolving
gridiron, he continued to deride his carnificers, is nar-
rated by Prudentius, as well as in the "Acta." Laurence
was interred in her cemetery by Cyriaca. His death
is said to have had the largest share, together with
that of the martyr Agnes, in promoting the conversion
of the noble classes of Roman society. " The blood of
the martyrs is the seed of the Church."
The feast day of this great saint has a vigil and
octave ; and the breviary office for the day has a
beauty and appositeness worthy of the blamelessness
which called it forth.
A prayer for recitation by every priest on returning
from the altar runs as follows : Da twbis, quasumus,
Domine, vitiorum mstrorum fiammas extinguere, qui heato
Laurentio tribuisti tonnentorutn suorum incendia superare.
Per Christum Dominum nostrum. '■'■'■
Campo THE CAMPO VEBANO, the cemetery of Rome, lies
Santo. over the site of the crypts of Cyriaca. It dates from
the first French occupation of the city, and was con-
secrated in 1837, though much enlarged since. Ves-
pignani designed the gate and Doric portico, and the
church in its centre. Over the entrance are inscribed
the words from the second book of Maccabees, xii. 46 :
" It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray
for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins "; and
on the other side the verses i Cor. xv. 52, 53. Apocal.
xiv. 13.
This great cemetery is being enlarged every day
* ' ' Grant us power we beseech thee O Lord to extinguish the
flame of our passions, who didst make blessed Laurence to over-
come the fire of his torments."
MAJOR BASILICAS 151
and contains many fine monuments. The form pre-
ferred is that of a small oratory, which as the cuhiculum
memoricB is a custom of very high antiquity.* A chair
or a prie-dieu in these little chambers expresses that
sense of remembrance of the dead, which never leaves us
in this garden. The chief monuments are in the
Portico, and on the so-called " Pincetto," up the
steps. Behind the church are the graves of the
poor. From November i until November 12 there
may be seen an endless stream of carriages on the
road which leads to Campo Verano, often filled with
wreaths. Even the poor hire cabs to convey them-
selves and their flowers to the cemetery. Here the
mourners visit their dead, and hear Mass in the chapel
or in the basilica. The poor light the little lamps
which hang by the simple graves in the large field
behind the church, the effect of which as can be
imagined is charming.
BASILICA OF SANTA AGNESE.— A group of Christian
edifices anciently rose over the Cemetery of S. Agnese,
of which to-day the ruins alone remain, except in the
case of the Mausoleum of Costanza and the BasiHca
of S. Agnese.
This beautiful little basilica at the second mile of
the Via Nomentana, preserves for the most part its
early Christian character, and has retained almost
unchanged its original arrangement and form.
A famous acrostic epigraph, to be read in the ancient
codices, lauds the founder, who is there called Con-
stantina ; and the Liber Pontificalis calls her the
daughter of Constantine.f The initial letters of the
acrostic iorm Constantina Deo.
* See Catacombs, p. 367, and Chapels, p. 380.
t "Fecit . . . basilicam beatse Agnetis Martyris ex rogatu
Constantinae filiae suae." She is variously regarded as sister,
daughter, or niece of the Emperor ; perhaps the last, if it is really
to her we owe the basilica. It may be noted that Agnes and
Laurence were venerated in Rome immediately after the two
152 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
During the Arian persecutions Liberius took refuge
here, as Boniface did later at S. Fehcita. " Liberius
hved in the cemetery of blessed Agnes by Constantine's
sister, Constantia Augusta." The church thus founded,
according to tradition, at the Constantinian period,
A.D, 324, was enlarged by Pope Symmachus a.d. 498-
514, and since then its main form remains unchanged,
though Honorius I. also worked on the basilica (630).
The church was altered in 1490 by Innocent VIII.
Pius IX. thoroughly repaired it (1856), and it is now
one of the most exquisite in or near Rome. To him
is due the present marble pavement.
The basilica was constructed at the level of the martyr's
totnb in order that this might not be violated, and lies
therefore below the level of the road, being approached
by a wide flight of steps.
The On the side walls of this staircase are arranged loculi
Steps. epitaphs found in the cemetery beneath ; these were
placed here in the time of Benedict XIII., having " in
the centuries of barbarism" paved the floor of the basiHca!
De Rossi added many others from the pavement of
S. Costanza. The series includes inscriptions from the
origin of Christianity to the xiii. and xiv. centuries,
and appertains to all classes of the Christian society,
so that we may gain from it an idea of Christian paleo-
graphy, epigraphy, and symbolism. Many epitaphs
come from the upper area and basilica.
A III. century, and perhaps a very early, one has :
ANeHPfi KAI lOYAIA
;i;
ANTHERUS AND JDLIA.
Apostles, and that to Constantine are attributed 4 basilicas in the
first days of the peace — those of SS. Peter, Paul, Agnes, and
Laurence.
MAJOR BASILICAS 153
Another in very badly formed letters is :
. . . CKATOLICA . . .
. . . MACHEDONI . . .
Chatolica Machedoni*
Another :
AIONYCIA CEMXH CYNBIo) MNIAS XAPIN.
[Dionisia Semne coniugi memories gratia.) " To the dear memory
of my wife {companion) Dionysia Semne."
FELICITATI
FILI^ VIRG
BENEMERE
ENTQUIVIVANN . XI . FIC . PARENT.
Felicitati filise virgin! benemerenti qui. viv. ann. xi.
fecerunt parentes.
Another :
MEM E a \N Tl- F f C 1 T
VC) ¥i
with the Constantinian monogram, 2 birds, and the
flowering palm. {He made it to his well deserving wife
Hermione.) It is iv. century.
The following, of antique diction, belongs to the
subterranean cemetery :
THrATKITATH MOT
eUFATPI BIKTwPIOM
HCYXIS.
T^ yXi/kittott; ixov dvyarpl BiKTUfKOfi. Eavxi-s-
To my beloved daughter Victoria, Hesychius (made it).
* An early use of the word Catholic.
154 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
A III. century inscription found near the basilica is :
AUR . AGAPETILLA.
ANCILLA DEI QUE
DORMIT IN PACE
VIXIT ANNIS XXI
MENSES iii. DIES iiii.
PATER FECIT.
To the Handmaid of God Aurelia Agapetilla, who sleeps in peace.
She lived 21 years, 3 months, 4 days. Her father made it.
On an oblong stone occurs a bare equilateral cross,
so rare a sign on the loculi :
+
The series of Christian names which occur here are
given in the account of the cemetery of S. Agnese
(Chap. X.).
The tran- The late French Cardinal Lavigerie, the determined
senna. opponent of African slavery, who was titular of
S. Agnese, ordered a restoration of this staircase, which
is built into the hill under which the sotterranea extend.
Among inscriptions, bas-reliefs, and marbles, he found
the front part of the pectoral transenna, or low marble
chancel rails, which surrounded the presbytery, on
which the figure of Agnes as an orante is represented.
It is now affixed to the wall with the inscriptions, and
is unique as a iv. century representation of her in
marble. The name can no longer be traced. On the
wall opposite, near the door (right), is the Damasine
metrical inscription in her honour, perfectly preserved.
This staircase, of 45 marble steps, which was recon-
structed by Cardinal Verallo, leads into an interior
vestibule which opened on the primitive atrium. We
now enter the church from the end of the right aisle.
The The basiUca consists of a nave and aisles, with 16
basilica, ancient Corinthian columns : two of these are of the
rare portasanta marble, ten of Serravezza breccia, and two
of pavonazzetto. Over this is a range of similar smaller
MAJOR BASILICAS 155
columns, enclosing a gallery which extends completely
round the 3 sides of the church (excluding the tribune),
and has its separate entrance on to the Via Nomentana.
This was a matronaeum, or part of the church destined
for the women only.
The apse was decorated with mosaic in the vi. Mosaics
century, under Honorius I., and represents S. Agnes of the
between Popes Symmachus and Honorius; these have ^P^^'
been restored. Agnes is dressed as a Byzantine
empress, her robe jewelled, a mitella on her head, and
the inscription sca. agnes. The pontiff to the right
offers her the church which he holds in his hand ; both
wear the striped tunic, chasuble, and pallium, and the
head tonsured. Some lines, below, of barbarous dic-
tion record the restorations made by these two popes.
The, fresco is by Gaghardi.
The altar, as in all the old churches, is on a raised
platform, hut it faces towards the episcopal chair.
The tribune is approached by two flights of steps.
The martyr's body lies beneath, under the rich taber-
nacle erected by Paul V. (16 14), supported on 4 por-
phyry columns. On the altar is a statue of her, the
torso of which is ancient, in Oriental alabaster ; the
head and hands in bronze gilt were added. The relics
were seen in 1605, and then re-enclosed in a silver
coffer.
By the high altar is an antique marble candelabrum,
brought from the cemetery.
On the right, after the staircase which leads to the The
gallery, are 3 chapels : (i) S. Jerome ; (2) SS. Stephen chapels,
and Laurence, with a xv. century bas-relief and a fine
inlaid altar ; (3) S. Emerentiana.
On the left, extreme (vestibule) end, is the sacristy,
which probably served anciently as the baptistery.
The entrance to the cemetery comes next, and then
3 chapels, the centre that of the Blessed Sacrament,
with an old fresco of the Blessed Virgin and Child.
The Acts of S. Agnes and of other martyrs used to
adorn the walls of the basilica, the work of xiii. and
Exterior.
The
Canoni-
cato.
156 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
XIV. century artists. Mr. E. Stevenson found a descrip-
tion of these in the Bibliotheca Pontiana of Naples. To-
day, between the windows, are paintings of the virgin
martyrs.
As we enter by the gateway, there is a building
with glass doors on the right of the courtyard. A
painting within represents an accident to Pius IX.
and those with him, which took place on April 15, 1855.
The floor of a room gave way, and the Pope fell into
a cellar below, but was unhurt. The building on the
right of the gate is the Canonicato, or Canon's house.
On the first floor are some now ruinous frescoes of
1454, with an Annunciation. They were drawn by
Seroux d'Agincourt. Recently, other frescoes have
been found representing the Crucifixion.
From the ly. century consecrated virgins lived near
the cemetery of S. Agnese ; and their inscriptions have
been found on the site.
The basilica is at present served by the Canons
Regular of the Lateran.
Ceremony On the martyr's feast day January 21, the ceremony
of blessing of blessing 2 lambs takes place.* These lambs are
lambs. p^j^j yearly by the basilica to the Lateran canons, who
present them to the Pope. They are afterwards kept
by the nuns of the monastery of S. Cecilia, who tend
and feed them till the octave of Easter, after which
they make their wool into the archiepiscopal /a/Zwi "da
consecrare il papa e li archiepiscopi."
A document in the archives of S. Pietro in Vincoli,
dated 1550, states that on January 21 the frati of that
church gave the solito censo (usual tax) of 2 lambs to
the White Canons of S. John Lateran. In the same
document the origin of the tribute is said to be that
Constantia dowered the basilica and monastery of
S. Agnes with many privileges, and as it was in feud
to la prima Chiesa del Mondo (S. John Lateran), it paid
in recognition of this 2 lambs yearly to the chapter
of the basilica.
* Agnes, Agnus, a lamb.
MAJOR BASILICAS 157
Immediately the celebrant has finished mass, the
two lambs are carried from the sacristy to the high
altar, tied with coloured silk ribbons in baskets, and
are blessed with holy water and incense. Then they
are carried up the staircase and borne away to S.
Cecilia in Trastevere.
As we leave the city gate on our way to the New
basilica, immediately to the right is a newly erected church
church belonging to the nuns of the Perpetual Adora- '^,\^^
tion, founded by the Belgian, Madame de Meuss. patrizi.
These nuns provide poor churches with the necessary
furniture. This church is on the site of the aticient
basilica of S. Nicomede, visited by pilgrims in the vi.
and VII. centuries, and built perhaps in the iv."
Feast day. — January 21.
(For S. Agnes, see p. 165.)
8. COSTANZA, near the basilica of S. Agnes and at
the extreme end of the cemetery which runs beneath,
has long been believed to be a temple of Bacchus. It
is a beautiful circular building, 73 feet across, with
doubled columns supporting a dome. Outside the
columns is a circular aisle decorated with splendid
mosaics, representing scenes from the vintage, birds,
and genii. These are of the iv. century, among the
earUest in Rome. The sheep and the pail of milk
should be specially noticed, as some of the most
ancient of all Christian symbols. S. Costanza is now
known to have been built as the mausoleum of Con-
stantine's two kinswomen, Constantia and Helena.!
P. Garrucci found in the library of the Escurial the
designs for the mosaics of the cupola, destroyed in
the XV. century. These included scenes from the
book of Genesis, with the sacrifice of Abel — and
• See Chap. II.
t A lady named Constantina is called the founder of the
basilica of S. Agnes, and is identified by the Lib. Pont, with the
Emperor's daughter.
158 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
some fishing scenes. In the principal recess in the
building figured the Constantinian monogram. The
large red porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican
Museo Pio-Clementitw, comes from this building, and a
painting representing it has been placed in situ. At
the Vatican it stands opposite the twin sarcophagus of
the Empress Helena, brought from her mausoleum at
Tor Pignattara. Both are of the fine Roman work of
Constantine's time. The rude mosaics in the minor
apses, representing the Almighty giving the Law to
Moses, and Christ giving the Law to Peter, with the
accompanying festoons, are perhaps as late as the
VIII. century. The columns are from ancient build-
ings, and have rich capitals.
S. Costanza was consecrated as a church by
Alexander IV. (1254-1261).
Feast day. — -February 25.
coNSTANTiA the daughter of Constantine, was married
to Aniballianus, and secondly to Gallus Caesar. A.
Marcellinus describes the latter princess as wicked : it
is from the Acts of S. Agnes that we hear of her as a
saintly virgin consecrated to God. As such, she has
been honoured from the xiii. century, when the
church was dedicated to her. It appears probable
that a really holy woman called Constantina founded
the basilica as the inscription informs us, and that her
fame was in later times transferred to the unworthy
daughter of Constantine ;'■' others assert that this Con-
stantia was niece to the Emperor, and lived privately
in this imperial retreat.
* Bottari. Duchesne, Liber Pont., note 80.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Churches in Rome — Their titular saints — Emblems of the saints in
art — Shrines and rooms of saints — The Ghetto and Trastevere.
There are 352 churches chapels and oratories in
Rome, including the 4 great basilicas outside the
walls. 52 of these are parish churches, 24 being ad-
ministered by secular, and 28 by regular clergy. Of
the remaining 300 churches, about 68='' are monastic,
while 22 are attached to different seminaries for the
education of boys for the priesthood. The other 200
consist of those ancient titles no longer reckoned among
parish churches, foundations due to the old guilds or
to private initiative, the national churches, and those
built by the many religious congregations which have
arisen since the xvi. century.
The national churches, which were in the first
instance attached to hospices for foreign pilgrims, are
in some cases very ancient foundations. Among the
earliest was the hospice and church of the Anglo-
Saxons, f
The following are the national churches still in
existence :
Of the French : S. Luigi dei Francesi. National
Germans : S. Maria dell' Anima. churches.
Spanish: S. Maria di Monserrato.
Portuguese: S. Antonio dei Portoghesi.
Belgians : S. Giuliano dei Fiamminghi.
Poles : S. Stanislao de' Polacchi.
Slavs : S. Girolamo degU Schiavoni.
* 26 of these are convents of women, 42 of men.
t See p. 63.
i6o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Parochial
churches.
Secular
parish
churches.
Of the Armenians : S. Biagio in Via Giulia.
Abyssinians: S. Stefano degl' Abissini.
,, Neapolitans: S. Spirito dei Napolitani.
,, Sicilians: S. Maria di Costantinopoli.
Lombards: S. Carlo al Corso.
Bolognese: SS. Petronio e Giovanni.
Genoese: S. Giovanni dei Genovesi.
Florentines: S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini.
„ Calabresi : S. Francesco di Paola.
,, Bergamese : S. Maria della Pieta, Piazza Colonna.
Lucchesi : S. Croce e Bonaventura.
,, Siennese : S. Caterina in Via Giulia.
,, Camerinesi : S. Venanzio.
Savoyards and Piedmontese : SS. Sudario.
,, Burgundians: S. Claudio.
Lorrainese: S. Niccolo in Agone.
Bretons : S. Ivo.
The parish churches of Rome are of two kinds —
secular and regular. The secular are administered by
secular clergy, with the parish priest''- (curato) at their
head; the regular by "regulars" of religious orders,
one member of which, not the superior, is appointed
Padre curato. The following is the list of the parishes
in Rome administered by secular clergy, twenty-five
in number :
SS. Celso e Giuliano.
S. Tommaso in Parione.
S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini.
S. Caterina della Rota.
S. Maria dei Monti.
S. Giacomo in Augusta.
S. Rocco.
S. Salvatore in Lauro.
S. Lucia del Gonfalone.
S. Spirito in Sassia.
SS. Vitale, GervasioeProtasio.
S. Maria della Divina Prov-
videnza, al Testaccio.
The Apostolic Palaces.
S. John Lateran.
S. Peter's.
S. Maria Maggiore.
S. Lorenzo in Damaso.
S. Maria in Trastevere.
S. Maria in Cosmedin.
S. Marco.
S. Eustachio.
S. Nicola in Carcere.
S. Maria in Via Lata.
S. Angelo in Pescheria.
S. Eusebio.
* The parish priests of Rome receive a stipend, called their
congrua, of 3,000 lire a year. Besides this, they have what
Italians call the stola bianca and the siola nera, i.e., the sums paid
for baptisms and marriages, and for burials. For the first of
these there is no charge fixed, and the amounts given in the
other cases much depend on the means and will of the families
concerned. There are still, however, in Italy some 1,300 parishes
where the priest receives less than 800 francs a year.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME
i6i
The following are secular suburban parishes :
S. Maria del Carmine e S. Giuseppe.
SS. Marcellino e Pietro a Torre Pignattara.
Suburban
secular
churches.
The following is the list of the regular parish churches
of Rome, 24 in number :
S. Lorenzo in Lucina, administered by Minor Observants (Fran- Regular
Servites. ciscans). parishes
S. Marcello,
S. Maria in Via,
SS. XII. Apostoli,
S. Martino ai Monti,
S. Maria sopra Minerva,
S. Bartolomeo all' Isola,
S. Crisogono,
S. Agostino,
SS. Quirico e Giulitta,
S. Maria del Popolo,
S. Maria in Campitelli,
S Maria Traspontina,
SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio
a Trevi,
S. Maria in Aquiro,
S. Andrea delle Fratte,
S. Carlo a Catinari,
S. Maria in Monticelli,
S. Salvatore della Corte,
S. Dorotea,
S. Bernardo alle Terme,
S. Maria Maddalena,
SS. Cosma e Damiano,
SS. Cuore di Gesu al Castro
Pretorio,
,, Servites.
,, Minor Conventuals.
,, Carmelites.
,, Dominicans.
,, Minor Observants.
,, Discalced Trinitarians.
,, Augustinians.
,, Dominicans.
,, Augustinians.
,, Clerks Regular of the
Mother of God.
,, Carmelites.
,, Clerks Regular of the
Ministersof the Infirm.
,, Somaschi Fathers.
,, Minimites.
,, Bamabites.
,, Doctrinarians
,, Minimites.
,, Minor Conventuals.
,, Cistercians.
,, Clerks Regular of the
Ministersof the Infirm.
,, Fathers of the Third
Order of S. Francis.
,. Salesians.
Suburban churches with regular clergy are as Suburban
follows : regular
S. Paolo Fuori, administered by Benedictines of Monte Cassino. P^"^
S. Lorenzo Fuori, ,, ,, Minor Capuchins.
S. Agnese Fuori, ,, ,, Canons Regular of the Lateran.
S. Sebastiano Fuori, ,, ,, Minor Observants.
S. Francesco a
Monte Mario,* ,, ,, Jeromites.
S. Maria del Rosario, „ ,, Dominicans.
S.Maria alle Fornaci, ,, ,, Discalced Trinitarians.
• S. Onofrio in Campagna.
i62 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. ABBIANO^i' in the Roman Forum was also known as
S. Adriano in tribiis foris like many churches in this
area, from its position upon the limits of the three fora
of Caesar Augustus and Rome. It was built, says
the Liber PontificaHs, by Pope Honorius I. (625-640).
The original building was no doubt at a lower level —
at that of the Forum itself. A fragment of a column
from this church has been preserved in the Lateran
museum, bearing an inscription to the effect that those
attempting to injure the church of S. Adriano will be
anathema. In 121 3 the relics of SS. Nereus and
Achilleus were removed to this church, which was
completely restored by Gregory IX. in 1228. This
restoration is recorded in an inscription, and another
states that at the same time the relics of SS. Marius,
Martha and Adrian, and of the "Three Children,"
were discovered. Adrian I. converted the church into
a diaconate and presented to it rich gifts, vineyards,
and olive gardens. Being deserted, it was transferred
to the Spanish " Fathers of the Order of Mercy" in
1589, and the church was in such a state of neglect at
this time that grass grew among its paving-stones.
S. Adriano is still in the hands of the Spanish Fathers
of Mercy. Its interior is plain and bare. It contains
some pavement-tombs of members of the order. It is
seldom open.
Feast day. — September 8.
8. ADKiAH was a noble Roman youth, son of Probus,
and the husband of a beautiful woman Natalia, who
was secretly a Christian. He served under the Emperor
Galerius Maximian in the persecutions of the Christians
in Nicomedia in 290. On one occasion it was his duty
to superintend the torture of thirty-four victims, and
suddenly touched by their heroism and constancy,
Adrian threw away his arms and called aloud that he
* In describing interiors of churches the follomng order is
observed : i. Chapels of right (facing high altar) aisle. 2. Tribune,
transepts, etc. 3. Chapels of left aisle in returning order, 4th,
3rd, 2nd, etc.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 163
too would be a Christian. Thrown into prison, and
subjected to various persecutions, he was sustained
and encouraged by his wife, Adrian was sentenced to
have his Hmbs smitten off on an anvil, and during this
.torture Natalia held and comforted him until he died
in her arms. Natalia fled to Constantinople, and soon
after died. S. Adrian is represented in art as a Roman
soldier, with an anvil at his feet or in his hand ; some-
times a lion is beside him as an emblem of fortitude.
S. AGNESE in Piazza Navona (Circo Agonale) on
the site of the Stadium of Domitian. This church is
built on the traditional site where the martyr S. Agnes
was exposed, and the tradition agrees well with what
we know of the ancient topography of Rome. This Ancient
was the IX. Flaminian region of the city, and in topo-
A.D. 64 Nero had increased the great baths of Agrippa S^apny.
(Pantheon) towards the west. They were again ex-
tended by Alexander Severus (222-235) ^^ ^^^ ^^ the
present Piazza Navona. Tacitus says that Nero also
built a gymnasium. It is certain that Domitian trans-
formed this gymnasium into a stadium a few years later.
Remains of the stadium have been found in the crypt The Sta-
of this church and beneath the-^adjacent houses, and dium.
the topography is rendered clearer by the retention of
the name agone (a place for public games) for this piazza.
That the stadium of Domitian was in fact situated
here, adds force to the story preserved in the martyr-
ologies. It is known that lupanaria were to be found
round the stadia. When Severus increased the baths
he restored this stadium,'" which would therefore have
begun to take its part in the popular life of the Romans
a few years before Agnes's torment and death.
S. Agnese in Agone, as it was anciently styled, or The old
oratorio in Cryptis Agonis, v,'a.s originally a small oratory church,
probably occupying the site of the present sacristy.
It is alluded to in a Bull of Urban II. (1088). Cal-
• It has been therefore known also as Stadium Alexandrinum,
Alexander's Stadium.
II — 2
The
present
church
(exterior).
The
obeHsk.
Interior.
164 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
listus II. amplified it, and dedicated it in 1123. The
front was then on the opposite side, the old " Via di
S. Agnese," with a small door on the Piazza Navona.
The church was affiliated to S. Lorenzo in Damaso.
In the XIV. century it was a parish church, and here .
in 1384 was baptized Francesca Bussa afterwards
S. Francesca Romana, whose paternal house was
opposite the church.
The present building is in the form of a Greek cross,
and was rebuilt in 1642 by the Pamfili family, losing
then its original form. The late Prince Doria Pamfili
restored it. It is considered to be the best work of its
architect Rainaldi. The fa9ade and cupola are the
work of Borromini ; and there is an amusing story told
of him and the sculptor Bernini, who was engaged on
the fountain in front of the church. Bernini has made
the figure nearest Borromini's cupola hold up his hand
as if to ward off" a prospective crash, or to hide the
unsightly thing from view. It is said that when Borro-
mini saw it, it gave him an illness, and he never got
over his mortification.
The obelisk which now faces the church was placed
there by Innocent X., who brought it from the Circus
of Maximus on the Via Appia. It is not one of the
Egyptian trophies imported by the emperors, but is
an imitation column worked in Rome. It stood
originally in the Flavian Emperor Domitian's villa at
Albano. It was this Emperor's Christian descendant
Constantine, who founded the basilica of S. Agnes on
the Nomentana, and by an odd coincidence this Flavian
obelisk has found its way to the Flavian stadium to
honour the same martyr.
On entering the church we read in large letters
round the dome : " Ingressa Agnes turpitudinis locum
Angelum Domini praeparatum invenit." — "When Agnes
came into the place of shame, she found the angel of
the Lord whom He had prepared."
The painting of the dome is by Ciro Ferri and
Corbellini, the lunettes by Baciccio. The church is
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 165
rich with marbles, and has 8 columns of red cotanella.
On the right as we enter is a bas-relief represent-
ing the death of S. Alexis (p. 175) by Rossi; next,
forming one arm of the cross, is the chapel of S. Agnes,
the statue of the saint by Ferrata. Next to this, an
alto-relievo, representing the martyrdom of S. Emeren-
tiana, is also by Ercole Ferrata. The large rehef over
the high altar, representing the Madonna and S. Anna,
is by Guidi. On the other side of this is the mar-
tyrdom of S. CeciHa by A. Raggi, Pope Urban I.
being represented as present (p. 212). The arm of
the cross corresponding to the chapel of S. Agnese
forms that of S. Sebastian, with a statue of the martyr
by Paolo Campi. The alto-relievo next to this, and
near the entrance, is by Ferrata and Caffa, and re-
presents S. Eustachius in the amphitheatre among the
wild beasts. Over the entrance is Maini's monument
to the Pamfili pope. Innocent X. A door near the
chapel of S. Cecilia leads to the sepulchral chapel of
Mary Talbot, Princess Doria, obiit 1857.
Attached to the church is the Pamfili College and
the palace erected for his family by Innocent.
The sotterraneo of the church — the site of the ex- Thesot-
posure of S. Agnes — is entered from the door to the terraneo.
right of S. Agnes's chapel. It has been newly decor-
ated. At the first altar a marble relief represents her
as shielded by her hair.
Feast day. — January 21.*
8. AGNES is one of the most celebrated martyrs not Story of
only of the Roman, but of the Universal Church. S- Agnes.
She is placed almost with the Apostles, and, with
S. Laurence, was regarded as co-operating with them
in the conversion of Rome. The conversion of the
Roman aristocracy is ascribed to her, and the liturgical
books of both East and West celebrate her glory.
In the very earliest art Agnes is portrayed effigied
* About 3.30 p.m. on the 20th and 21st there are solemn
vespers ; and High Mass on the feast day. The sotterranea are
lighted up.
i66 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
with the Apostles, and with S. Laurence, and often
appearing as the principal figure, with her name over
her head, and Peter and Paul below her.*
Her bio- Agnes's parents, as alleged, wrote the account of her
graphers. passion ; and Prudentius, visiting the Roman catacombs
at the end of the iv. or beginning of the v. century,
writes her story in verse. In the iv. century Jerome
tells us that Agnes's renown was spread among all
nations, hymns and homilies having been composed
in all tongues in her honour. Ambrose speaks of' her
with great veneration ; Martin of Tours tells her story,
and so does Augustine.
The The story of S. Agnes is found in the so-called
" Acta." " Ambrosian Acts," which have been erroneously attri-
buted to Ambrose of Milan. The compiler tells us
that his information is obtained from voluminous
existing sources, and the probability is that a monk
called Ambrose re- wrote the acts in the vi. century.
The " Acts of the Martyrs" cannot be regarded as
authentic or primitive in the form in which they have
reached us ; only genuine fragments may be expected.
Round the story of S. Agnese fresh legends have
grown up, as in other cases, but in this instance we
have internal evidence of the genuineness of the main
record, drawn from the allusions to the social and
political circumstances of the age.
It has been commonly believed that her story was
a IV. century record of events which took place at
the end of the in., in the persecution of Diocletian.
It is, in fact, a vi. century recension of events, of
which a contemporaneous record existed, happening
during the persecution of Valerian (258),
The "Acts" tell us that the name of the Prefect
under whom Agnes suffered was Aspasius, and this
* Nothing better emphasises the important place occupied in
the early Christianising of Rome, not only by her celebrated
martyrs — for Peter and Paul were such — but by her women
martyrs, than these representations : not only do we find the
great Agnes so portrayed, but S. Pelegrina appears orante-wise
as the central figure, and the Apostles as her escort.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 167
is the name of the Prefect of Rome during the
Valerian persecution, a.d. 257-258. She was mar-
tyred, we learn, during a great persecution ; and the
primitive names agellus and pradium, are used for her
burial-place. But incidentally these names tell us Her
much more : the large cemetery on the Via Nomen- family
tana, venerable to Christians from the earliest times, '^^•i"^.
has been called since the viii. century " S. Agnese."
But it is not here that Agnes lies, but in the smaller
catacomb close at hand. There must have been some
reason for this, and the expressions " her ground," " her
field," supply the clue. The term agellus commonly
signifies a family burial place, and S. Agnes was most
probably a member of the Gens Claudia, to whom this
little catacomb has been shown to belong. Her own Her own
name is found variously spelt ; Damasus tells us her name,
name was AGNE.* It is really Greek in origin, de-
riving from AFNH — Hague, pure. Ambrose writes :
"As it seems to me, it was not the name of men, but
rather a prophecy of martyrdom, indicating what was
to be." {Agnus, lamb.)
Before her martyrdom Agnes was taken to a place Her mar-
of shame. We know that this brutal punishment was tyrdom.
in use, and Tertullian says that the Christian feared
more to be exposed in the lupanaria, than to the wild
beasts in the amphitheatre. But when Agnes entered
the place of iniquity " the angel of the Lord entered
with her ;" and when she was exposed, her hair
became as a veil and covered her: After this, con-
tinuing openly and without fear to profess herself a
Christian, she was thrown on a pile of lighted faggots,
and then killed with a sword : " looking steadfastly to
heaven, she yielded up her pure spirit, and fell bathed
in blood." That evening a procession left the Porta
Collina, with torches, and hymns ; it was the
Christians bearing the martyr's body to her ground
on the Via Nomentana, accompanied by her parents,
and by Emerentiana her faithful foster-sister. The
* See Catacomb Agnese, Chap. X.
i68 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
" Acts " tell us that Agnes had been sought in marriage
by a Roman youth, the son of the Prefect Aspasius,
and her refusal on the ground that she had conse-
crated her life to virginity, led to her martyrdom.
Her office. The matins of S. Agnese, like those of S. Laurence,
do not, as is usual, describe her history and death : in
both cases it seems too well known for the Roman
Church to reiterate it." Instead, we have lections
from S. Ambrose's book, " De Virginibus," where he
speaks of Agnes ; and the responsaries and.antiphons
again and again repeat the well known words and
phrases of her story, interchanged with apposite
hymnody from the sacred Scriptures : — Blessed Agnes
stretched forth her hands in the midst of the flames, and
prayed: " Almighty adorable worshipable dread Father,
I bless Thee because by Thy holy Son I have escaped
the menaces of the tyrant, and by a narrow and clean
foot-track have passed over the filthiness of the flesh :
and behold I come to Thee, whom I have loved, whom
I have sought, whom I have always desired." Rejoice
together with me, and be ye glad, since I have received seats
of light with all these blessed.
Her After those of the two Apostles no festival has been
memory, kept in Rome with greater solemnity than that of
S. Agnes, f
In art. In art she is represented as quite a girl — she is said
to have been only 13 or 15 — and she carries a lamh,
her emblem, and the palm of martyrdom. She is
richly dressed, and often crowned.
S. AGATA DEI GOTI in Via de' Mazzarini upon the
slopes of the Quirinal Hill. In the vi. century this
church was called degli Ariani, "of the Arians." It
is now the chapel of the College foj Irish Semin-
arists. The original edifice is said to have been
founded about 460 by Ricimer the Goth, who certainly
• For the formation of the Sanctoral office, see Part II.,
ch. hi.
t Armelhni, Cimitero di S. Agnese.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 169
adorned the apse with mosaics, which with Ricimer's
inscription "perished barbarously" when the church
was restored in 1589. A painted copy is preserved in
the Vatican Library. When Rome was occupied by
the Goths, they possessed themselves of S. Agata as
their national church, and hence the name "of the
Arians."
In 593 Gregory the Great restored it to Catholic
worship, dedicating it to S. Agata, In the viii.
century there was a monastery annexed, which under
Alexander VIII. was possessed by the Benedictines
of Monte Vergine.
The present church dates from 1633. Nothing
remains of the ancient building. The aisles are
separated from the nave by 12 ancient columns of
gray granite with Ionic capitals, 6 on each side. The
chapel at the end of the .right aisle is dedicated to
S. Agata. The monument to Daniel O'Connell who
bequeathed his heart to this church, is on the left of
the principal entrance ; it was executed in 1856 by
Benzoni. The bas-relief represents him at the Bar of
the House of Commons refusing to sign the Declara-
tion.
To the right is the monument to Lascaris, the
Greek refugee, who fled to Italy on the fall of Con-
stantinople, and thus became a chief means of the
introduction of Greek literature into \\'estern Europe.
There is also a monument in cinquecento style to the
Spanish Cardinal, Mario y Catalan.
Feast day. — February 5.
8. ASATHA of Catania in Sicily, was desired for her s. Agatha,
beauty by Quintianus the Praetor, who delivered her
to Aphrodisia and her nine abandoned daughters to
make her compliant to his will. Aphrodisia returning
to Quintianus, told him that the sword at his side
should sooner become like liquid lead and the rocks
flow like water than Agatha be moved.
Quintianus then gave her the choice of sacrificing to
the gods or undergoing torture. Agatha not hesitating,
I70 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
she was beaten with rods, and three days later, being
found in the same constancy, her breasts were torn
from her bosom. That night there came into her
dungeon a venerable old man, and placing ointment
on her sores, restored her breasts. Agatha believed
she had been visited and healed by the Apostle Peter.
She was then ordered to be burnt, and was led back half
dead ; when praying that she might be taken, she passed
immediately away. The event takes place during the
persecution of Decius (249).
S. Agatha is represented with a dish on which are
placed her breasts, and with the martyr's palm ; some-
times she bears the shears used in her torture. Usually
she wears a long veil, in allusion to the legend that at
the eruption of Mount Etna a year after her martyr-
dom. Christians and pagans alike took her silken veil
which lay upon her tomb, ^.nd went forth in procession
towards the molten lake of fire, and " it pleased God
that by the virtue of this sacred relic the fire was
turned aside, the mountain ceased to roar, and there
was calm."
S. AGOSTINO, in the piazza of the same name, is the
first and only church in Rome dedicated to the great
African Bishop. It was built in 1483-84 at the expense
of Cardinal d'Estouteville, Ambassador of France,
by the Florentine architect Baccio Pintelli, and upon
the site of an earlier chapel with the same dedica-
tion.
The church is in the form of a Latin cross, and was
the first built in Rome with a dome. Its fa9ade con-
sists of travertine taken from among the ruins of the
Colosseum. The style of this church shows traces of
Gothic influence. The interior consists of a nave
divided from the aisles by 5 piers on each side, faced
with coloured marbles. The pointed roof is of the
XV. century. On the third pillar to the left is the
fresco of Isaiah with two angels holding a scroll, by
Raphael (Isa. xxvi. 2). It is supposed to have been
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 171
painted in 15 12, when he was much influenced by
Michael Angelo's frescoes in the Sistine, Fifty scudi,
or £10, were asked by Raphael for the work, and this
price, says Vasari, was thought so high by the monks
of S. Agostino that no further work was given him.
The painting has been rnuch retouched by Volterra,
and injured by cleaning under Paul IV.
The pilasters are decorated with subjects from the
Scriptures, and from the lives of S. Augustine and
S. Monica. On the roof are the prophets, by Gagliardi.
Chapels. — I. on right : Here is a S. Catherine by
Venusti, formerly in the church of Loreto.
II. on right : A copy by Nucci of the lost Madonna
della Rosa by Raphael.
IV. on right : Painting of Christ delivering the keys
to Peter, by Cotignola.
V. on right : Contains a monument to Honuphrius
Panvinius, ob. 1568, the Augustinian whom Baronius
thought more fit than himself to write the annals.
In the right transept is an altar-piece of S. Augus-
tine between John the Baptist and Paul the Hermit,
by Guercino.
The high altar and the angels were designed by
Bernini. Above it is a Greek painting of the Madonna,
brought from Constantinople shortly after it fell into
the hands of Mahomet II. In the lunette of the apse
is a fresco of Adam and Eve by Gagliardi.
At the extremity of the left transept lies the body of
S. Monica in an urn of " verde antico," brought here
from Ostia in 1482. The altar-piece is by Gothardi,
the marble group of S. Thomas of Villanova by Ercole
Ferrata.
IV. chapel on left : Contains an altar-piece of S.
Apollonia attributed to Volterra.
II. on left : Contains a well-known marble group
of the Madonna with the Child and S. Anna, to which
the Romans used to attach sonnets and poetical com-
positions, the work of Andrea Contucci da Monte San-
sovino.
172 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
In I. on left : A Madonna of Loreto by Caravaggio.
To the right of the main entrance is a celebrated
statue of the Madonna and Child, by Jacopo Tatti da
Sansovino, highly venerated by the Roman people, and
covered with votive offerings. S. Philip Neri was in
the habit of coming constantly to pray in the chapel of
the Crucifix in this church.
The antiquary Maliani, Cardinal Norris, ob. 1704,
the litterateur Massimiliano Sarti, and Cardinal Angelo
Rocca, the founder in 1605 of the adjoining library
(Angelica) which bears his name, are buried in this
church.
It was restored in 1740 by Vanvitelli, though for-
tunately the roof and fa9ade were left untouched. It
has again been recently decorated in a gay and tasteless
manner.
Feast day. — August 28.
The Station is on the ist Saturday in Lent.
AusELius AUGTTSTnnjs is, of the four Latin Fathers,
the one who had least connection with Rome. The
most famous theologian of the West, he was born at
Tagaste, in Numidia, a.d. 354, his mother Monica
being a Christian, his father Patricius a pagan of a
violent and passionate character. The most interesting
event in his life was his conversion at the age of thirty-
three. In his youth he had taught rhetoric, and it was
the reading of Cicero's Hortensius in 373 which dis-
gusted him with his immoral way of life. He joined
the Manichaeans, but was always repelled by that arid
system. His mother who spent her life in works of
charity and in praying for him, eventually found her
way from Africa to Milan ; where the great Ambrose
would comfort her, saying : " The son of so many tears
can never be lost." Augustine here became a catechu-
men, and attended the preaching of Ambrose. At
length after a terrible struggle with himself in a
garden, during which he heard the words " ToUe, lege,"
repeated, he opened the Epistle to the Romans, which
he had been reading, and lighted on a passage which
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 173
decided him. He was baptized by Ambrose in his
mother's presence, a.d. 387. In 391 he was made a
priest, and in 396 bishop, being eventually given the
diocese of Hippo near Carthage ; this he would not
leave, and constantly refused any other dignity. Here,
when he had nothing else to give, he sold the sacred
vessels to feed the poor.
Though Augustine had no profound theological
acquirements, it is as a theologian that he used his
splendid talents in the cause of Christianity. The
doctrine by which he is best known being that of pre-
destination to salvation, which he however guarded.
To his opponents he was no more disposed to be fair
than other disputants of his time ; and his credulity, to
judge from his writings, was unbounded. In intelli-
gence he was both subtle and puerile, in character
pious and scrupulous, and of strong religious feeling
which no doubt was the main element in his conver-
sion to Christianity. His imagination was ardent,
and he dreaded being led away by his senses. During
the 35 years of his episcopate he wrote, among a
multitude of works, the De Civitate Dei, finished in 426,
a discourse on the Trinity, De Beatd Vita, De Gratia
Christi, De Peccato Originali, De Utilitate Credendi, and
the Confessions.
S. ALE8SI0 ON THE AVENTINE Roman tradition gives
a great antiquity to this church, and affirms that it was
founded in the house of Euphemianus father of Alessio,
in the iv. century. There is a similar legend about
these two saints in the East,
The site is supposed to be that of the Armilustrum
of the Romans. The church was originally called
S. Boniface, and the name of S. Alessio does not
appear with that of S. Boniface before the close of the
X. century.''' Now, the names are reversed, and the
church is called SS. Alessio and Bonifacio. In 977
* It is said the original title was: Oratory of S. Aglae and
S. Boniface.
174 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Benedict VII. ceded it to the Greek Metropolitan
Sergius, who had fled to Rome from his Damascus
bishopric to escape the Arab persecutions ; and he
founded close to it a large monastery partly for Basilian
monks, and partly for Roman Benedictines, of which
he became the first Abbot. This monastery became
the home of a series of distinguished men. In 1217
the church was reconsecrated by Honorius III., to
receive the relics of S. Alessio. From the xii. cen-
tury the original monastery was divided into two,
one portion called S. Boniface, the other S. Maria,
now the Priorato of Malta ; but the Benedictines
retained possession of the church till 1231, when
Gregory IX. gave it and the monastery to the Pre-
monstratensians. In 1431 they passed to the Jero-
mites, who restored and altered the church. Now it
belongs to the Somaschi Fathers, and attached to it is
an institution for the blind.
The campanile is of the xii. or xiii. century,
but the church was modernized in 1750, and again
recently. Adelbert, apostle of the Bohemians, Gau-
denzius his brother, Boniface apostle of South Russia,
and S. Anastasius are buried in this church, which was
called by Baronius " domicilium sanctorum." In 1849
the Roman batteries were placed on the piazza in front
to bombard the French on the opposite side of the
Tiber. A French bomb came through the roof of the
passage leading to the sacristy, and just escaped injur-
ing the fine tomb by Murena, of Cardinal di Bagno,
ob. 1 64 1, which stands there.
S. Alessio was declared a Cardinal's titular church
by Sixtus V. It is rarely open except on its feast day,
July 17. The interior contains two fine columns
decorated with mosaic by Jacobus Cosma, belonging
to an episcopal chair, the one remaining of nineteen
which stood together. The north aisle contains a well
and wooden staircase, said to have belonged to the
house of Euphemianus.
Feast day. — July 17.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 175
s. ALEXIS (ALEssio). — According to the legend, this saint
was the son of Euphemianus, and being the subject
of a special call, left his home on the day of his marriage
and travelled for seventeen years among all the churches,
unknown. He returns to Rome and seeks alms at his
parents' door, who are filled with pity saying " Perhaps
our son is now a wanderer and in need, as this poor man."
He lives as a beggar, fed by his parents and despised
by the servants, for seventeen years more, soli Deo
notus, known only to God. Here he is found one day
dead, under the stairs of the palace, and on him is
discovered a writing declaring his name, and re-
counting all his life. He is represented old and worn,
in pilgrim's habit. He is the patron of beggars and of
pilgrims.
S. ANASTASIA at the base of the Palatine, is an
ancient titular church of unknown origin. Its priests are
mentioned as early as 492 as subscribing to a synod held
in Rome under Pope Gelasius, and it is there described
as S. Anastasias suh Palatio. It is said, but without foun-
dation, that S. Jerome was a priest of this church, and
also that he lived in the vicinity ; an enamelled chalice
is shown with which the saint is supposed to have
celebrated mass. According to tradition the church
was erected in the house of Publius, husband of
Anastasia, and of her father Praetextatus. It origin-
ally stood upon raised ground, and was approached
by 20 steps, upon which were placed seats. It was
restored by Innocent III. in 12 10, by Sixtus IV. in
1475, and remained in its primitive form till 1626,
when Urban VIII. reconstructed its fa9ade and re-
built the church. It stands upon ancient structures
connected with the Circus Maximus, and with Roma
Quadrata, and it still contains some fine fluted columns
of pavonazzetto marble, built into the nave pilasters,
which are said to come from the temple of Neptune on
the Palatine.
S. Anastasia is mentioned several times in the Liber
176 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Pontificalis. Leo the Great recited here a homily
against Eutyches in the mass on Christmas morning,
and it was the custom for the popes to celebrate
the second of the three Christmas Masses in this
church.
In old documents it is stated that six canons were
attached to the church, drawing stipends of 60 ducats
annually.
The altars are dedicated to the Madonna, to S.
Anastasia, and to S. Jerome. In the left transept is
the monument of Cardinal Mai, titular of the church ;
and under the high altar a statue of the patron saint
by Ercole Ferrata.
In 16 15 a confraternity of tailors and cloakmakers
was attached to the church. Up to 1628 traces of
frescoes still remained in the 4:ribune.
Feast day. — December 25.
The Station is on the ist Tuesday in Lent.
s. AMA8TA8IA. — This martyr is said to have been a noble
Roman, burnt during the persecution of Diocletian, a.d.
304. Professing the Christian faith she was persecuted
by her husband and kinsmen, but aided and encouraged
by S, Crisogono. These events are not supposed to have
taken place in Rome, but in Illyria ; although tradition
tells us that Anastasia's friend Apollina buried her in
her garden by the Circus Maximus, under the Palatine.
Her church there was one of the most important in
Rome in Jerome's day. (See Christmas Day, Part II.
of the Handbook.)
S. ANDREA. DELLE FRATTE, or inter hortos. The
region on the slopes of the Pincian, the hill of gardens
of ancient Rome, was called in the middle ages Inter
Hortos, and hence the name of an ancient church which
stood upon or near the site of the present one. The
name della Fratta "of the shambles" occurs first in
the XV. century, when the church was also called " ad
caput domortim," an appellation which survives in the
name of the neighbouring street of " Capo le Case."
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 177
The church of S. Andrea originally belonged to some
Augustinian nuns, then passed into the possession of
the Scotch nation until the Reformation. After that
time till 1574 it was possessed by a confraternity who
annexed to it a hospice for lodging the poor gratuitously.
In 1585 Sixtus V. gave it to the Minimite order who
still possess it. The old church was entirely de-
molished and the present one built in 161 2 at the ex-
pense of the Marchese del Bufalo, whose palace was
situated in its vicinity. It was designed by Padre
Guerra, an Oratorian, and completed by Borromini,
who also built the cupola and bell-tower. The fa9ade
was designed by Valadier, but its upper part was not
completed till 1826, when funds were left for the pur-
pose by Cardinal Consalvi, derived from the sale of
his costly collection o£ snuff-boxes.
S. Andrea is the parish church of the region round
the Piazza di Spagna, and is a very popular one with
the Roman people. It contains the tombs of Angelica
Kauffman, who died in Rome in 1805 ; of Schadow the
Prussian sculptor ; of George Zoega, the Danish anti-
quary, who died in 1809 ; of a king of Morocco, who
was converted in Rome in 1733, and who there died
in 1739. Otherwise the interior consisting of a single
nave lined with chapels and terminating in an apse,
contains little of interest or value.
Chapels. — III. on the right: contains the tomb of a
young Englishwoman, Judith de Palezieux Falconnet,
with a beautiful reclining figure by the American sculptor
Hosmer, 1856.
The two figures of angels at the high altar are by
Bernini, and were intended for the Ponte S. Angelo,
but were judged too small for that position by Pope
Clement IX. Decorating the apse are frescoes repre-
senting scenes in the life of S. Andrew.
In the III. on left are three pictures of the Madonna ;
the central one, by Cades, representing her as she is said
to have miraculously appeared in this church to a French
Jew called Ratisbonne, in 1842. Ratisbonne was con-
12
178 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
verted to Christianity by this miracle, an event which
caused quite a stir in Rome.
The II. chapel on the left contains an altar-piece of
S. Giuseppe Labbre.
I. chapel on the left is dedicated to S. Philip Neri.
S. ANDEEA A MONTE CAVALLO, also called de Equo
Marmoveo and de Caballo, is situated opposite the
Royal Palace in the Via del Quirinale, and is one
of some 25 churches dedicated to S. Andrew at
different epochs in Rome. It is said to stand upon
or near the site of the temple of Quirinus, erected by
Romulus. Camerario, afterwards Pope Honorius III.
(i2i6), mentions this church as abandoned and without
clergy ; and in 1556 we find this same area of ground
granted by Giovanni Andrea Croce, Bishop of Tivoli,
to S. Francis Borgia, under whose auspices the present
church was erected at the cost of Prince Camillo
Pamfili, nephew of Innocent X., its ancient name of
S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo being retained. The
Jesuits had a novitiate house here until 1870. It was
built chiefly at the expense of Duchessa Tagliacozzo,
who gave up to it her garden and some contiguous
houses.
The present church, from designs of Bernini, has a
Corinthian fa9ade, with a semicircular portico of
Ionic columns. The rich interior is oval in shape.
Chapels. — To the right on entering is the chapel
dedicated to S. Francis Zavier, containing three
paintings of scenes in the life of this saint, by
Baciccio.
Above the High Altar is a crucifixion of S. Andrew
by Borgognone ; on each side are fine columns of
cottanella marble. .
To the left is the chapel of S. Stanislaus Kostka,
with an altar-piece by Carlo Maratta, of the saint
kneeling before the Virgin. In an urn in this chapel
are preserved the ashes of the saint, and the room in
which he died, converted into a chapel, was preserved
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 179
in the adjoining house until 1887, when it was de-
stroyed by the present Government, a facsimile being
however retained, containing a statue of the dying
saint by Le Gros. It was in the original chapel
that Leo XIII. said his first mass in 1837. Carlo
Emanuele IV. of Sardinia, who abdicated his throne
in 1802, entered the Society of Jesus and died in
this novitiate house in 1808; he is buried in the
church.
S. ANDBEA DELIA VALLE, in the modern Corso Vittorio
Emanuele, stands on the site of the curia of Pompey,
which held his statue, now in the Farnese Palace.
The present church is of the xvi. century, and occupies
the site of a more ancient one dedicated to S. Sebastian.
It was built in honour of S. Andrew by the desire of
Costanza Piccolomini, who gave her palace for th^ pur-
pose. The design is by Padre Obarin a Roman, com-
pleted by Carlo Maderno, the fa9ade by Rainaldi. The
cupola is the largest in Rome, after S. Peter's.
On the fa9ade are rows of coupled columns, in the
niches of which are statues by Ercole Ferrata, by D.
Guidi, and by Fancelli. The interior consists of a wide
nave, with 6 chapels and transept.
The cupola is decorated with frescoes by Lanfranco,
on the model of Corregio's cupola at Parma, and is
considered one of his best works. The Evangelists at
the corners are by Domenichino, as are also the
paintings on the tribune vault, which represent scenes
in the life of S. Andrew. The walls of the choir are
decorated with frescoes of the crucifixion of S. Andrew,
by Calabrese.
Chapels. — The II. on the right : The Strozzi chapel,
designed by Michael Angelo, contains copies in bronze
of his Pieta in S. Peter's, and of the Elias and Rachel
in S. Pietro in Vincoli.
In the right transept is Lanfranco's picture of S.
Andrea Avellino.
III. on left : S. Sebastian, by Giovanni de' Vecchi.
i8o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
II. on left : The Rucellai chapel, contains the tomb
of the Archbishop of Benevento, ob. 1556.
I. on left : The Barberini chapel, erected by Urban
VIII. while still Cardinal Barberini, is rich in marbles
and pictures. It contains the busts of his parents,
sculptured in porphyry ; an Assumption by Passignani,
and figures of S. Martha by Mochi ; S. John the Evan-
gelist by Buonvicino, S. John Baptist by Bernini, and
the Magdalen by Santi. In the nave are the tombs of
Pius II. (1458) and III. (1503), by Paolo Romano and
Pasquino of Montepulciano, removed here from old S.
Peter's. A palace which these popes occupied formerly
stood in the vicinity. The octave of Epiphany is kept
at this church, with the celebration of the liturgy in
Oriental rites.*
Feast day. — November 30.
S. An- s. ANDREW was the first chosen of the twelve Apostles;
drew, he has hence been called 6 7r/)a)TOKA^Tos.
Apostle. According to the Russian tradition he was the first
to preach to the Muscovites. The beautiful account
of his martyrdom given for November 30 in the
Breviary, is the compilation of the priests and deacons
of Achaia in the vii. century, though based on ancient
tradition. There is also an apocryphal letter recounting
his martyrdom. All authors agree that he was crucified,
the occasion of his death being we are told his conver-
sion of the wife of the Proconsul ^geas, Maximilla.
He was tied with cords to a tree roughly arranged
crosswise ; others say it was a transverse cross, and
with such he has always been represented since the
XIV. century. On the doors of S. Paolo the cross is
Y-shaped ; Peter Chrysologus calls it a tree. In the
Achaian story he adores his cross as he is led to it,
being then a very old man. He hung on it for two
days, not ceasing to preach the faith of Christ. The
two scenes of his flagellation before crucifixion, and of
his adoration of the cross, sometimes occur in art. His
♦ See Part II.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME i8i
body was removed by Constantine to Constantinople,
and thence to Amalfi ; the head being brought to S.
Peter's in Rome by Pius II.
In the IV. century some relics of the Apostle were
brought from Patras in Achaia where he suffered, to
Scotland, and he has since this date been revered as
Scotland's Patron.
8. ANICETO. — An interesting oratory, the ancient
chapel of Palazzo Altemps. It is decorated with paint-
ings of Pomarancio and Leoni, Over the altar is a
painting of the Madonna, believed to be the work of
Raphael.
It is said that in the time of Clement VIII. the
Altemps family brought the relics of S. Anicetus
here.
A chasuble used by S. Charles Borromeo is pre-
served in the sacristy.
The palace and chapel have just been temporarily
given to the Spanish seminary by Leo XIII.
On the feast of S. Anicetus, April 17, there is a
picturesque festa here, and the floor is strewn with
box leaves. The entrance is through Palazzo Altemps
in Piazza di S. Apollinare.
AMicETTJs was Pope after S. Pius I. and before Soter,
A.D. 157-168, or 167-175, as the date is variously given.
He was of Syrian nationality, and sat with great
authority, consulted by the Christian world. In his
day it was fully admitted by all that the Church of
Rome had been founded by Peter. "
Polycarp, the disciple of S. John visited Rome in
this bishop's time, and Polycrates in his letter to
Pope Victor quotes with approval their behaviour to
each other on the question of Easter, and the modera-
tion and fairness of Anicetus.
88. ANNA E GIOACCHINO at the Quattro Fontane is a
little XVII. century church built by the reformed dis-
• Renan, Marc-Avrele et la fin du monde antique.
182 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
calced Carmelites of Spain who remained in possession
till 1809. It is now the chapel of the Belgian College
of Seminarists.
B. AMKA. — According to the "Gospel of James" the
parents of the Blessed Virgin were Anna and Joachim.
The veneration of S. Anna is of very ancient date, and
the Liber Pontificalis states that Leo IIL (795) had
the history of Anna and Joachim painted in S. Paul's
Basilica. In the xiv. century the devotion to S. Anna
was largely propagated, and from this period we find
churches commonly dedicated to her.* Her feast day,
July 26, was sanctioned for the Universal Church by
Gregory XIII. in 1584.
Story of The Gospel of James tells us that Mary's two
Anna and parents were just and holy people who divided their
Joachim, goods into three parts : one for the poor, one for the
service of the Temple, and one for their own use. But
they were childless, and Joachim was repulsed from
the. Temple when he dared to offer his gift with the
fathers of Israel. He retired to a mountain solitude,
his soul bitter within him, and there received an answer
that they should have a child. Anna prayed in her
garden, receiving the same message, and then Anna
and Joachim met at the Golden Gate of the city, each
with the great news in their hearts, and fell upon each
other's necks.
The story is referred to in a sermon by Epiphanius
in the iv. century. In art Anna is often represented
with Mary learning at her knee, or in pictures with
Mary, the Divine infant, and John.
The feast of S. Joachim is kept on the Sunday
within the octave of the Assumption. The present
Pope has made the feast a double-major,
S. ANTONIO DE" P0ET0GHE8I, near the Via della Scrofa,
was built in the xv. century by Cardinal Martinez
di Chales on his return from the Council of Florence.
It is the national church of the Portuguese, and was
* Vide the account of the Hail Mary. Part II.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 183
erected upon the site of a hospice for pilgrims of this
nation. It was entirely rebuilt and much amplified
at the national expense about 1695, and it was com-
pletely repaired by Vespignani junior in 1870. The
interior is rich with coloured marbles and Sicilian
jasper.
Feast day. — June 13.
For the life of S. Antony, see the Part of the Handbook which
deals with religious orders.
S. APOLLINA££, originally called S. Apollinare in
Archipreshyteratu, in the piazza of that name, is one of
the four chief churches that existed in Rome dedicated
to this saint.
It was built about a.d. 780 by Pope Adrian I.*
Here he placed, it is said, a convent of Basilian monks,
who had fled from the iconoclast Leo the Isaurian.
Adinolfi, however, refers this story to another church
of S. Apollinare near the Vatican.
In the XIII. century the church was administered
by a chapter of secular canons. In the xv. century
an archpriest is also mentioned, whence, perhaps, the
name in '■^Archipreshyteratu.'"
Leo X. made it a titular church, and its first titular
Cardinal Pallavicino. Sixtus V. took away its title.
The church we see to-day dates from the time of
Benedict XIV., 1740. A very large vestibule leads
to an undivided nave ; a painting at the altar on the
left of the vestibule, representing the Madonna with
SS. Peter and Paul, has been attributed to Perugino.
It is a picture of the Umbrian school of the xvi.
century.
The picture over the high altar represents S. Apol- Interior,
linare being consecrated bishop of Ravenna by S.
Peter.
Julius III., 1550, gave the old church to S. Ignatius
Loyola, who here founded the Germanic College, the
church being rebuilt in 1552. The seminary of the
diocese of Rome, with the residence of the Cardinal-
• Lib. Pont, in Adriano.
1 84 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Vicar and his curia, were placed at S. Apollinare by
Leo XII., 1823,
In a little basilica-shaped chapel in the annexed
college is a large collection of relics of martyrs, and
other objects from the Catacombs. These are ex-
hibited on the day of the station.
Another oratory dedicated to the Madonna, contains
a little picture of her which belonged to the Venerable
Maria Fornari. The image of the Madonna at present
in the church was removed from the older building,
where it stood in the little portico between the church
and the door.
Feast day. — July 23.
The Station is on the 6th Thursday in Lent.
B. APOLLiNAius is Said to have accompanied Peter
from Antioch to Rome. He was ordained bishop by
the Apostle, and sent to preach the Gospel at Ravenna.
There he is said to have been taken by the pagan
priests, and flagellated. At the prayer of the holy
bishop, a certain Boniface who was mute began to
speak, and his daughter was cleansed of an unclean
spirit. These things led to a commotion in the city,
and after being beaten with rods, and having burning
coals applied to his feet, the fire being powerless to
hurt him, he was cast out from the town. Apollinaris
repaired to Emilia with other Christians ; but, neglect-
ing the command to cease preaching the Gospel, he
was barbarously tortured, and the fourth day placed
on a ship and sent into exile. He came to Thrace,
and thence to Ravenna, where being again tortured,
he gave up his spirit on the seventh day, exhorting
the Christians to constancy in the faith. This Martyr-
Bishop is Patron of Ravenna, where he is buried.
We find him represented in art as a Bishop with the
martyr's emblems.
SS. AFOSTOLI, in the piazza of the same name. This
ancient basilica, constructed by Pelagius a.d. 555, and
completed by John III. in 560, as we learn from an
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 185
inscription on the epistyle of the old door, was dedicated
to the Apostles PhiUp and James. According to some,
it was the Basilica Julia built by Julius I. (337-340),
juxta forum divi Traiani (Liber Pontificalis), but this is
improbable.
Nothing of the ancient church remains. While
making the excavations for the present confession, the
bases of columns still in situ, were found, showing
that the level of the ancient edifice was some metres
below that of the present church. In 1873 a little
well was found with rehcs of the Apostles Philip and
James, together with fragments of balsam, which were
placed there in the vii. century, at the epoch of the
foundation of the church. Adrian I., in a document
directed to Charlemagne, speaks of the vastness of
this church, and says it was adorned with mosaic.
The material used was perhaps taken from the Baths
of Constantine then in a state of decay. Stephen VI.
(885-891), whose paternal house was adjacent to the
church, rebuilt it. It was destroyed by the earthquake
of 1348, and lay in a state of ruin for nearly a century
with many other edifices of the city. Martin V.
(Colonna), 1417, then renewed the basilica and the
contiguous palace of his family, which he extended
as far as the Quirinal. Sixtus IV. (147 1) added the
tribune. The present church was entirely rebuilt by
Clement XI. (1700), and consecrated by Benedict XIII.
in 1724. The portico was added by Giuliano della
Rovere (1500) afterwards Julius II., from the designs
of Baccio Pintelli, who enlarged the convent then a
residence of the popes. To-day it is converted into
the Circolo Militare. Inside the portico is a stone lion
which supported one of the columns of the mediaeval
church, the work of Vassallectus, whose name pre-
ceded by a cross, is engraved on the base. Here also
is an eagle from the Forum of Trajan, esteemed as
an early example of stone decoration, and Canova's
monument to his friend Giovanni Volpato the en-
graver.
1 86 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Interior.
Chapels.
Cloisters.
Duca Giovanni Torlonia completed the facade in
1827. It was restored by P. Antonio Bonelli parocco
of the church, a few years ago.
The church belongs to the first order of S. Francis,
or Minor Conventuals, called in Italy the " Signori," as
did also the large convent until recent years.
From the xvi. century the basilica has been com-
monly called " basilica duodecim apostolorum " (of the
twelve Apostles).
Chapels. — The III. chapel on the right contains the
S. Antony of Benedetto Luti, mentioned by Lanzi. At
the high altar is Muratori's martyrdom of SS. Philip and
James, said to be the largest altar-piece in Rome ; it is
painted on the wall. In the tribune are the two monu-
ments erected by Sixtus IV. to his nephews, Pietro
and Alessandro Riario ; on the ceiling, the fall of the
angels, by Giovanni Odassi. In the left aisle, over
the door leading to the sacristy, is the monument to
Clement XIV., executed by Canova in his twenty-fifth
year. The Pope is seated, with figures of Temperance
and Meekness on either hand. The remains of this
pontiff, who was a Minor Conventual, are laid in the
cloisters, having been removed from S. Peter's in 1802.
The second chapel on the left contains the Descent
from the Cross by Francesco Manni. On the roof of
the nave is the Triumph of the Franciscan Order, by
Baciccio. The passage leading to the cloisters contains
a monument to Michelangelo, who died in this parish
February 17, 1563, and was first buried here before
the clandestine removal of his remains to S. Croce in
Florence. The monument is a recumbent figure of
the great artist, and the likeness is striking.
There are also two monuments to the memory of
Cardinal Bessarion, the great Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, ob. 1472, who attached himself to the Roman
Church, and was Bishop of Tusculum. He was born
at Trebizond, and died at Ravenna. The Greco-Latin
inscription on one of the monuments is by himself.
Cardinal Bessarion greatly contributed to the introduc-
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 187
tion of Greek literature in Europe after the Revival of
Letters. In the centre of the cloister is the ancient
marble vase or cantharus, which stood in the atrium
of the old church. A xii. century document fixing
the limits of the parish, mentions the road nhi est calix
marmoreus — that is, this cantharus for the ablutions,
used at that period as a font.
In the old basilica were 12 chapels, 6 on each
side. In the present church there are three on each
side. A barbarous usage on the feasts of SS. Philip
and James in the mediaeval church of the Apostoli is
described by CanceUieri : A little pig was suspended
from the roof, near the ground, and basins of water
were thrown over the crowds as they rushed to
possess themselves of it. Birds were also let loose
into the church. An example of the extreme of buf-
foonery co-existing in the spirit of the middle ages
Avith an exaggerated lugubriousness and horror,
especially as surrounding death.
Feast day. — The patronal feast of this church is May i.
88. PHILIP AND JAMES. — All we Icnow of S. Philip from
the New Testament is in John, chapters xii. and
xiv. Papias speaks of " the daughters of the apostle
Philip," who lived in HierapoHs, and who told him a
wonderful narrative. Polycrates speaks, in a letter to
Pope Victor, of the /xeydXa a-Tot-x^la, the great founda-
tions of the Church, Philip one of the Twelve, his two
daughters who were virgins, and a third daughter.
In the Greek calendar Philip's daughter Hennione
and sister Mariamne both appear. From the letter
above quoted we learn that Philip was buried at
Ephesus.
JAME8 THE LESS, Called the brother of the Lord, and
surnamed the Just, is said by tradition to have been so
like Christ that " the Holy Virgin herself, could she
have been deceived, might have mistaken one for the
other ;" and that this likeness rendered necessary the
kiss of Judas. Nothing is recorded of him in the
i88 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Gospels. He is called the " son of Alphaeus," and the
brother of the Lord, and of Joses, After the Ascen-
sion he becomes a figure of much importance, and
was Bishop of Jerusalem.
James was thrown down from a height of the
Temple at Jerusalem, and then despatched with a
club. He is said to have always dressed in white linen
garments, and Cyril tells us the Patriarch of Jerusalem
invariably wore white also. The identification of
James the Lord's brother with James 6 Mixpos (the
Less) is made by S. Jerome.
The bodies of these two Apostles are said to have
been brought, the one from Hierapolis, where the
Christians had buried him, and the other from Jeru-
salem where he lay near the Temple, to Rome to be
placed in the Basilica " duodecim apostolorum." They
are Con-protectors of Rome.
Mar- Although Eusebius says that all the Apostles were
tyrdom martyred, there is no testimony to support this. But,
AposUes ^^ least, they were all " confessors " (" martyrs "), in the
primitive sense of enduring sufferings for the faith they
propagated. In an ancient Greek picture, 5 of the
Apostles are represented crucified, of whom Peter and
Philip have the head downwards, and Bartholomew
and Simon Justus are crucified like their Master. John
is buried and raised by angels. A similar series, of
Greek x. century workmanship, adorned the doors
of Old S. Paul's London.
Attributes The attribute of S. Peter is the keys ; he is also
in Art. represented with a. fish, with a hook, and with a cross.
Anckew Andrew's attribute is his X-shaped cross, the instru-
James the rnent of his martyrdom. James the Greater has a
Greater, sword, as he was beheaded, or carries a pilgrim's staff.
John. For John's " martyrdom " see p. 239. His attributes
are the bath of oil, or the chalice in allusion to Christ's
words to James and John, " You shall indeed drink of
My cup," although two or three legends have been
invented to account for it, one being that an attempt
was made to poison him in the sacramental cup at
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 189
Rome, the poison issuing in the form of a serpent.
The cup is kept at S. Giovanni Porta Latina. Some-
times the cup has a wafer over it, and the allusion is
then to the institution of the Eucharist. In later
Western art S. John is always young, and wears no
beard (see " Evangelists," infra). Philip bears a crozier, Philip,
or a tau-shaped cross as the instrument of his martyr-
dom. Bartholomew bears a flaying knife, or his skin, Bartholo-
in allusion to his death ; Thomas a spear, or a builder's mew.
rule in reference to a legend. Matthew, as an Apostle, JJ^^"^^"
holds a purse, in allusion to his previous post at the ^ ®^'
receipt of customs, or he holds a book or a pen, as an
EvangeUst. S. James the Less is distinguishable by s. James
the resemblance to Christ, carefully preserved in the the Less,
earliest representations, and by a club or thick stick in
allusion to his martyrdom. S. Simon was sawn Simon,
asunder ; S. Jude, or Thaddeus, killed with a halberd : jude.
these attributes are pecuhar to Western art.* Judas Judas.
Iscariot is represented carrying the " bag." S. Matthias Matthias.
bears the instrument of his martyrdom — a lance or
axe. S. Paul is always represented with a sword ; Paul,
this emblem does not occur in the earliest art in
Rome, but only after the vi. century. Barnabas is Barnabas,
represented as a man of fine presence, and carries the
Gospel of S. Matthew in his hand. Sometimes he is
represented as a bishop, on account of the tradition
that he was the first Bishop of Milan.
The four Evangelists are often represented together. The four
but in the earliest Roman art they appear under the Evan-
symbols of the " four witnesses," the " living creatures " g^l^sts.
of Ezechiel i. 5-14. S. Matthew is represented as the
man-faced cherub, S. Mark as the lion, S. Luke the
ox, S. John the eagle. It is not clear when these
emblems began to be used. Jerome in his Com-
* The " twelve martyrdoms " occur in a fresco at SS. Nereo e
Achilleo. Peter, Andrew, and Philip are crucified ; James the
Greater and Simon die by the sword, and so does Matthew ;
Jude and Matthias by the club and halberd. On the old Greek
doors of S. Paolo, S. Matthew dies peacefully in bed, incense
being swung round him.
190 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
mentary on Ezechiel, allots them as we do now :
Matthew being the recorder of Christ's human nature,
Luke representing Him in the aspect of a sacrifice,
while Mark's emblem refers to the third verse of his
Gospel, where the verb used for crying is fSodo), to
roar, and the lion thus signifies " the voice crying in the
wilderness"; or because he represents to his readers
the kingly nature of Christ. The eagle of John signifies
inspiration, as he is the recorder of the divine nature.
Luke S. Luke is variously represented to have been a
physician or a painter (cf. Col. iv. 14), and is supposed
to have painted many of the very ancient Byzantine
pictures of the Madonna. The story that he was a
painter is not traceable beyond the x. century, and
then among the Greeks. It is also said that a drawing
of Mary in the Catacombs had an inscription over it,
" One of the seven painted by Luca," and this led to
the supposition that this Luca was the Evangelist.
Mrs. Jameson has pointed out that S. Luke has in
fact " painted a portrait " of Mary in his Gospel.
S. Luke was in Rome with S. Paul. A chapel is
shown in the Church of S. Maria in Via Lata which is
called the room in which he wrote his Gospel, and
painted the Madonna. S. Mark is referred to in the
account of the basiHca dedicated to him.
ARA CCELI, or S. MARIA IN ARACOELI.— This famous
church stands upon the summit of the Capitol Hill.
It occupies according to the latest authorities, the site
of the arx, or citadel of Rome, and not that of the
Temple of Jupiter which stood where we now see the
Caffarelli Palace, this point of the hill the Tarpeon,
being divided from that occupied by the church by a
slight depression. The church was originally called
S. Maria in Campitoho, a name which is found changed
to that of Ara Coeli about the xiv. century, and vary-
ing to Aurocelio, Laurocelio, and Aracelio.
History. The Benedictine chronicles state that the church
was built by Gregory the Great in 591, and the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 191
adjacent monastery is found mentioned as early as
882. '■' Others attribute its foundation to Constantine.
A legend of the middle ages relates that the emperor
Octavius was one day consulting the Tiburtine sibyl,
when he heard a voice saying, " Haec est Ara primo-
geniti Dei ": " Thisisthealtar of the Firstborn of God."
He thereupon erected an altar upon the Capitol, and
later a church, which from the xii. century was
called " Ubi est ara filii Dei,"f a name corrupted into
Aracoeli.]; This legend is of Greek origin, certainly
much anterior to the xiv, century. It is found in
Suidas,§ and referred to in an antique Latin chronicle
edited by Cardinal Mai|| ; it may even be as early as
the VII. or viii. century.
In any case, the popular tale may be regarded as a
sort of allegory of the transformation of the Capitol of
pagan Rome into a stronghold of Christianity. The
celebrity of the Capitol of the middle ages seems to
have passed into the church and monastery of Ara
Coeli. According to Gregorovius, it became the centre
of the parliamentary life of the Roman citizens. In
the great nave of the church were held their solemn
assemblies and their councils, and it was no doubt the
scene of many of the great gatherings and discussions
of the Republican factions of the middle ages. It
became indeed, until the xv. century, the " con-
sulto " of the Roman people, and was confirmed as
such by Eugenius IV. in 1445. The whole Capitol
passed into the hands of the monks of Ara Coeli ; and
in 10 1 5 an Abbot signs himself " Ego Dominicus abbas
Capitolii."
It is not known at what date the Benedictines first
* Cod. Sess., cclxii., p. ig. Teuzo Abb. ven. monasterii S. Maria
Dei genetricis Virg. in Capitolio.
f Petrus Mallius Abbazie Romane.
X Gregorovius suggests " auro coelo " as the origin of the name ;
Niebuhr and Becker, that it is derived from "in arce," a more
likely explanation.
§ Hist. Eccl., i. 12.
Chronicon Palatinum nello Spicil. rom., ix. 118.
192 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
occupied the monastery, but in 1250 they were re-
placed under Innocent IV. by the Franciscans. The
gift of the Capitol to the monastery is even confirmed
in the celebrated Bull of the Antipope Anacletus II.
in 1 1 30. When the Franciscans took possession of
Aracceli, they decorated the tribune with mosaics
destroyed later by Pius IV. ; and in gratitude for the
escape of Rome from the great pestilence, described
by Boccaccio in the " Decameron," the Romans built
Steps. the great flight of steps leading to the main entrance
of the church from the piazza below. The materials
for these steps were taken from the Temple of
Quirinus, a gift of the Senate, and an inscription still
to be seen near the great doors records the work.
Fa9ade. The decoration of the fa9ade of the church with
mosaic was also commenced, but unfortunately never
finished, and with the exception of a few traces of
mosaic, it still remains of rough brick ; its sole orna-
ment was a clock, which no longer exists. In the
XVI. century a special office was instituted in Rome
for the care of this clock, and in the Archives of
Briefs* a document exists in which the pope confirms
the appointment of the brothers Domenico and Fabio
della Pedacchia to this office ; the street below Ara-
cceli still bears their name.
In 1464 Cardinal Caraffa rebuilt portions of the
church ; and in 1564 the second door from the church
on to the piazza of the Campidoglio was opened, an
antique mosaic of the Madonna with adoring angels
being placed above it.
Pius IV. removed the innumerable sepulchral
monuments from the body of the church, and de-
stroyed the choir which stood in the centre of the
nave. After the battle of Lepanto the rich roof was
restored, and an inscription recording this was placed
on the inside of the main entrance.
Interior. The church is divided into a nave and two aisles by
22 columns of various kinds. On the third column,
• Julii, 1601, fol. 23.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 193
on the left, are the -words in letters of the Imperial
period, "/I cubiculo Augustonim," which may possibly
be connected in some way with the legend of the
origin of this church. The ancient pavement of green
and ophite porphyry and serpentine, has been in
great part retained, interspersed with slabs of white
marble.
The first chapel to the right on entering, the Bufalini Chapels
Chapel, is decorated with frescoes by Pinturicchio, I.- on
representing scenes in the life of S. Bernardino da "§^*-
Siena, among them the reconciliation effected by him
between the two great rival families of Perugia, the
Bufalini and the Baglioni. Over the altar, S. Ber-
nardino preaching ; on the left, his death and burial.
The four evangelists on the roof are by Signorelli and
Francesco da Citta di Castello, Pinturicchio's pupils.
The pavement of this chapel is remarkable for its fine
mosaic. Pietro da Valle is buried just outside this
chapel, and in another tomb Michel Antonio Salezzo,
Procurator-general of Francis I., who died in Arezzo in
1529, on his way to succour Pope Clement VII.,
besieged in Castel S. Angelo.
The third chapel on the right contains a painting of m. on
S. Jerome by Giovanni de' Vecchi ; in the SavelH right,
chapel in the right transept, is a painting of S. Francis,
by Trevignano.
So great was the fame of Ara Coeli during the middle
ages, that the great families of Rome sought to be
buried in the church. The Savelli built for themselves
a chapel in the xiii. century, and here are still to
be seen some of the monuments to their family — that
of Pope Honorius IV., of Luca Savelli (1266), of Pan-
dolfo and Andrea, his daughter. The monument of
Pandolfo was designed by Giotto, while the lower
portion consists of a pagan sarcophagus ornamented
with bas-reliefs of fruits and flowers. Vana Aldo-
brandesca, the mother of Pope Honorius IV., -is also
buried here, and in the choir Cardinal Savelli, 1498.
In this church, also, are the monuments of Mariale,
13
t94 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
High
Altar.
Altar of
S. Elena.
VIII.
on left.
III.
II.
Monas-
tery.
Grand Prior of the Order of Malta, and of members
of the AstalH and Margani families, whose palaces
stood in the contrada at the foot of the hill.
On either side of the high altar are the two ambones
from the ancient choir, removed here when the latter
was destroyed. They are beautiful examples of the
mosaic work of the xiii. century, and are probably
the work of the Cosma family. Close by is the tomb
of Catherine Queen of Bosnia, ob. 1478, and in the
centre of the transept the small temple known as the
Cappella Santa di S. Elena, supposed to mark the site of
the original altar of S. Maria. The red porphyry urn
beneath is said to contain the relics of S. Helena, and
of SS. Abbondio and Abbondanzio, martyrs. The
original altar and ciborium, ornamented by the Anti-
pope Anacletus in 11 30, stood here until the xvii.
century, when it was replaced by a modern one. In
1798 the little temple was again destroyed, and rebuilt
as we now see it. On the wall of the transept is the
tombstone of Felice Freddi, the discoverer of the
Laocoon group. In the chapel of the Madonna, on
the left, is the tomb of Crivelh, Archdeacon of Aquitaine,
by Donatello.
In the VIII. chapel on the left, dedicated to S.
Margaret of Cortona, are paintings of events in her
life by Benefiel. In the III. chapel the frescoes on
the roof are by Niccolo da Pesaro. II. on the left the
Transfiguration, by Girolamo Sicciolante. Raphael's
Madonna da Foligno formerly stood over the high altar,
and was removed to the convent at Foligno in 1565.
In the left transept is a monument, possibly by the
Cosma family, to Matteo di Acquasparta, General of
the Franciscans in 1302, employed to deal with the
Florentines by Boniface VIII., and praised by Dante.
The present monastery adjoining the church was built
by Paul III. (1534-1550), who as a rule inhabited his
palace of S. Marco, now called di Venezia, beneath the
hill. He also constructed a covered way, joining his
palace to the monastery, and his successors Julius III.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 195
and Pius IV. used to spend the hot months at Ara Coeli.
Sixtus V, finally gave over the monastery wholly to the
Franciscans, who still possess it.
A great portion is however now being destroyed,
including the tower of Paul III., to make room for an
immense monument to Victor Emmanuel.
For an account of the famous image called the
" Bambino," which is kept at this church, see the
account of Christmas in Part II, Ara Coeli is the
Municipal Church of Rome.
S. ATANASIO, in the Via Babuino is the church of
the College for Greek Seminarists. It was built in
1577 under Gregory XIII., when the college was
founded. The architect was Giacomo della Porta.
The high altar is divided, according to the Greek rite,
by an ikonostasis.
Feast day. — May 2.
s. ATHAMAsros, the wisest and though not the most
learned the greatest of the Christian theologians, was
born at Alexandria a.d. 298. As deacon he was
present at the Council of Nicaea, of which he was the
most distinguished member, and no doubt assisted in
formulating the Creed known as the Nicene, although
he was not the author of the later " Athanasian " creed
which goes by his name. At that council he opposed
Arius, and at its conclusion was elected by clergy and
people Archbishop of Alexandria. Athanasius spent
the greater part of his life persecuted by the emperors
for his opposition to Arianism. In one of his exiles
he visited Rome, and there knew Marcella and
Fabiola.
To a firmness which knew no compromise Atha-
nasius united a discretion which made him eschew
useless danger when he could better serve his cause
with his life ; a temper of mind foreign to his time.
By his resistance to imperial tyranny, he opened a new
epoch in the history of the Roman empire. His
works are: Five Books against Arius, " The Divinity
13—2
196 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
of the Holy Spirit," " On the Incarnation," " A Letter
to the Solitaries," and "A Treatise against every De-
nomination of Heresy." The " Life of Antony" has
been erroneously ascribed to him. Athanasius died
in 373.-
8. BALBINA on the Aventine, is a small and ancient
basilica. It was probably built under Gregory the
Great (590-604), as its priests were summoned to the
synod held in Rome in 594 and to the subsequent
third synod under the same pontiff, but to no previous
one. It is mentioned several times during the pontifi-
cate of Leo III. (795-816), who restored the roof. In
Giacomo Valaterrano's diary of Sixtus IV. (1471-1484)
we learn that the Prior of the annexed monastery had
the privilege of reading the Easter Gospel in Greek,
as was then the custom, in the Papal chapel. The
original tower and walls of the old monastery! still
remain. It is now an orphanage under the care of
Franciscan nuns. Fragments of the Servian wall can
be seen under the terrace in the convent garden, and
the busts now in the Vatican, of Caius and Lucius,
nephews of Augustus, with some water-pipes from
the house of Q. Fabius Cilo, were found close by in
1859.
The plain whitewashed interior has been twice
restored in this century. It has a fine roof of open
beams, with an inscription of Marcus Balbus, after-
wards Paul II., who restored it in 1489. An altar
erected by the same Pope in Old S. Peter's and de-
corated with bas-reliefs by Mino da Fiesole, now
stands in the church on the" right. To the left is the
tomb of Stephanus de Surdis, ob. 1300, richly de-
corated with mosaic by Giovanni, son of Cosma. An
episcopal throne, ornamented with the same work,
stands in the raised tribune.
The front of the basilica facing the steep ascent of
* For Athanasius, see also Part III.
t See Ughelli, Italia Sacra, col. 1003
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 197
the Via di S. Balbina, has three fine wheel windows.
Originally the church was called S. Salvatore, and
appears as SS. Salvatore e Balbina in the xiv. century,*
and again as " S. Salvatore della Balbina."
Feast day. — March 31.
The Station is on the 2nd Tuesday in Lent.
SANTA BALBINA is Only known as a Roman martyr.
She is said to have suffered on March 31 a.d. 130,
and to have been the daughter of the Prefect
Quirinus. In art she holds a chain or fetters, in
allusion to a legend that she discovered the lost
chains of Peter.
S. BARBAEA— In the Liber Pontificalis, especially in the
viii. and IX. centuries, are found mentioned several
churches dedicated to S. Barbara in Rome. The only
one now in existence, and which is also one of the
most ancient, is S. Barbara in the Via dei Giub-
bonari,t or cloak-makers, called in the xv. century dei
Pelamantelli, or fur-cloak-makers. The church con-
tains an inscription of the xi. century, to the effect
that Giovanni Crescenzo de Roizo, and his wife
Rogata, " for the redemption of their souls renounced
all claim to, and released this church from, their
patronage, with all its appurtenances." This Giovanni
Crescenzo was Prefect of Rome during the first years
of the XI. century.
This church was parochial until 1594, when
Clement VIII. granted it to the guild of Litsrarians,
who still possess it, adding the title of their patron,
S. Thomas Aquinas.
Martinelli states that this church was called S.
Barbara " Anglorum," but it is not known how or
when it was possessed by the English.
Feast day. — December 4.
* Urban V. Regesti, anno vi., ep. 44.
+ The cloak-makers still have their shops in this street, and
the church is still called "dei Giubbonari."
198 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The legend of s. babbaea, only daughter of the rich
and noble Dioscorus of Heliopolis is as follows :
Her father imprisoned her in a high tower to prevent
her being sought in marriage, and here Barbara spent
her time in study and contemplation. Hearing of the
fame of Origen and of the new and holy religion which
he taught, she sent to ask him about his teaching,
and in reply he sent her one of his disciples, by whom
she was taught the Christian faith and baptized. She
was killed by the hand of her own father in his wrath
at her conversion.
Her emblem is a tower. In art she is generally
dressed in red and crowned as a princess, and she often
carries a book as the emblem of her learning. She is the
patron of soldiers, and a protector against sudden death
or death without the sacraments, this latter being
typified by a chalice and Host held in her hand.
S. BAETOLOMEO ALL' ISOLA.— This church was erected
upon the ruins of the temples of iEsculapius and
Island of Jupiter, built upon the island in the Tiber, B.C. 293.
the Tiber. The whole island was originally faced with great blocks
of travertine, and shaped to resemble a ship in com-
memoration of the celebrated voyage of the ambas-
sadors to Epidaurus, related by Livy. On their
return bearing the statue of iEsculapius, a serpent was
found in the ship, which escaped on to the island. It
was thought to be the god ; hence the temple in honour
of iEsculapius. Remains of the masonry can still be
seen in the Franciscan convent garden on the island,
and fragments of the staff and serpent which were
carved upon the ship's bow.
The church is not older than the x. century, and
its original dedication was to S. Adelbert, Apostle of
the Slavs, and to PauHnus, the rehcs of these saints
having been brought here by Paschal II. in 11 13, as
an inscription over the door records.
It was fearfully damaged by the inundations of the
Tiber in 1557, when the facade decorated with mosaics,
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 199
fell down, a fragment of a figure of the Redeemer,
with an open book in His hand alone remaining, now
preserved in the choir over the portico. The flood
also carried away the confession and ciborium, with
four porphyry columns, now in the Hall of Tapestries
at the Vatican.
The church was restored in 11 18 by Gelasius H.,
in 1 159 by Alexander HI., and rebuilt under Gre-
gory Xni. by Cardinal Santorio, from designs of
Lunghi the elder. The work was completed in 1625
under Urban VHL, a right aisle being added, with
new portico fagade and roof. A Bull of Benedict VHI.
of 10 1 9 confirms the possession of this church and
island to the Bishop of Porto, to whose diocese
Leo IV. (847) had transferred it.
The interior consists of a nave and two aisles,
divided by fourteen ancient columns of granite and
marble, with composite columns. These were no
doubt taken from the temples of ^sculapius and
Jupiter, other fragments of which can be seen lying
about in the gardens. Under the high altar is a fine
urn of red porphyry, in which are said to be the relics
of the Apostle Bartholomew, of Paulinus, Bishop of
Nola, of Exuperantius and Marcellus. The font is a
marble fountain, or ptiteal, of xiii. century Roman
work, possibly by Vassallectus. A chapel in the left
transept, built under Julius HI. (1550), and restored
in 1626, belongs to the guild of millers. The third
chapel on the left is decorated with frescoes by Caracci.
Feast day. — August 24 {in Rome, 25).
Only the name of s. Bartholomew is mentioned in s. Bar-
the Gospels, but there can be little doubt that he is tholomew
the Nathanael brought by Philip (John i. 45). " Philip Apostle,
and Bartholomew " are always enumerated together.
Bartholomew would then be a surname, like Barnabas,
Peter, Boanerges, Justus. Peter and Bartholomew-
are the only two Apostles commended by their Master
(Matt. xvi. 17 ; John i. 47).
200 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
According to tradition and legend, Bartholomew
preached "the Gospel according to Matthew " in Upper
India and then in Greater Armenia, where Polyminus
the King and his wife were converted. This led to
the priests of that people appealing to Astyages, the
brother of the King, who ordered that Bartholomew's
skin should be flayed while he was alive, and that he
should then be beheaded. He suffered in Albana, the
principal city of Armenia, and was there buried, a.d. 71.
The relics were thence transferred to the island of
Lipara, and then to Beneventum, where, after the
sack, Otho III. prepared to remove the Apostle's body
to Saxony. The Emperor died at Rome, on the way,
and the relics were placed at S. Bartolomeo all' Isola.
His contribution to the Creed, according to the
fanciful legend which asserts that each of the Apostles
supplied one of its clauses, is, " Credo in Spiritum
Sanctum." In the Apostolic Constitutions he makes
the constitution for the ordination of deaconesses.
It was customary among the Romans to keep his
feast for eight days at this church, from August 24.
S. BENEDETTO IN PISCINXTLA.— According to tradition,
this ancient church situated in the contrada of Piscinula
in Trastevere, was built in an angle of the house of
the Anici, from which family S. Benedict was de-
scended. In a visitation under Alexander VII. (1655)
it is described as parochial, and at this time the parish
numbered 459 souls. The church then contained
four tombs, which were removed during the pestilence
of 1656. This tiny church is still parochial. It con-
sists of a nave and two aisles separated by six columns
of various marbles. The campanile dates from the
time of Camerario (xiii. century), who describes the
church. To the left on entering is a little chapel
dedicated to the Madonna containing a porphyry table
and an ancient marble altar, above which is a picture
of the Madonna said to be the same before which
S. Benedict prayed.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 201
The mosaics of this little chapel have been more
than once repaired by successive rectors of the parish.
The door leading from the chapel into the church
is said to date from the time of the saint. The church
has an ancient and extremely uneven pavement of
mosaic, and above the high altar is a picture of
S. Benedict.
Feast day. — March 21.
For an account of S. Benedict, see Part III. which deals with
the monastic orders.
S. BERNARDO, in the piazza of the same name. The
ground upon which this church now stands, with
a circular building upon it said to have been the
" calidarium " of the baths of Diocletian, was bought
by Caterina de Sforza, Countess of Santa Flora, from
Cardinal Bellay, and the building was transformed into
a church in the year 1598. In the following year she
gave the church to the Cistercian monks of the
Feuillants order, founding and endowing a monastery
for them, and in 1600 the church was dedicated to
S. Bernard. Under this name, the building, with its
beautiful roof, has been preserved with fortunately
little alteration.
Caterina Sforza died in 161 2, and was buried in the
church with other members of her family. Cardinal
Passioni, librarian of the Vatican, and Cardinal Bona,
the Piedmontese liturgist, are also laid in the church.
Feast day. — August 20.
For S. Bernard, see Part III., dealing with monastic orders.
8. BIAGIO DE CANTU SECTTT&, popularly called della
Pagnotta, is situated at the extreme end of the Via
Giulia. The name of this exceedingly ancient church
has given rise to much discussion. The most satis-
factory explanation of the term cantu secuta, given in
almost every variety of form, is that it is a corrup-
tion of " ^ caput seccuta," " seccutta" being the popular
name during the xiii. century for the whole of the
202 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
riverside now occupied by the Via Giulia, owing to
an exceptional deposit of river sand. Even to-day,
one of the small adjoining streets is called " Via del
Polverone." The popular name, " della Pagnotta,"
arises from the ancient custom, still observed at this
church, of distributing little pieces of blessed bread in
the form of an " agape " on the feast day of the saint,
February 3,
This church is many times mentioned in the
catalogues of the middle ages, when it was annexed
to one of the largest abbeys of Rome. An inscription
in the interior of the church states that it was rebuilt
at the expense of one of the abbots of the monastery,
by name Domenico, on the loth day of August,
1072,
In the " stato temporale " of the churches of the
latter half of the xvii. century, it is described as built
upon a temple of Neptune.
The parish of S. Biagio was transferred to the
Vatican in 143 1. In 1836 Gregory XVI. transferred
to it the Armenians from S. Maria Egiziaca, who
to-day officiate in their own rite. The relics of S.
Biagio kept in the church were moved to S. Peter's by
Eugenius IV. The fa9ade is modern. The adoring
angels in the interior were executed by Pietro da
Cortona when very young.
Feast day. — February 3.
8. BIAGIO (S. Blaise) was Bishop of Sebaste in
Cappadocia. During the Diocletian persecutions, he
fled for safety to a mountain cave, where the wild
animals, subdued and tamed by his gentleness, came
every day to visit him. Here surrounded by wild
creatures, he was found by the Emperor's hunters,
and was bound and taken before the Governor. On
the way he cured a child strangled with a fish bone,
which incident has given rise to his being regarded as
the patron of throat diseases. S. Biagio was tortured
by having his flesh torn with iron combs, and finally
his head was struck off". He is represented in art as
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 203
an old man, dressed as a bishop, and with an iron comb
beside him. He is also the patron of wool combers.
This quaint reason for determining a saint's patronage
of a trade may often be noticed in hagiography.
S. BIBIANA is a little church situated in the region
between the Porta San Lorenzo and the Porta Mag-
giore. Its origin is attributed to Olympia Flaviana a
Roman matron of the iv. century, but it was more
probably built under Pope Simplicius, and we learn
from the Liber Pontificalis, was consecrated by him
in 467.
About the year 682, the bodies of the saints Sim-
plicius, Faustinianus and Viatrix were transferred
to the church from the catacomb of Generosa ; but a
metrical inscription reproduced by De Rossi* gives
SS. Eufrosia, Bibiana, and Simplicius as three martyrs
deposited here by Leo IL The marble urn containing
the relics of these saints is now in the canons' palace
of S. Maria Maggiore.
Honorius IIL, in 1220, built or rebuilt a monastery
attiguous to the church, of which no trace now
remains. It was occupied by nuns from the xiii.
to the XV, century. On the outside of the church
some fragments of painting still remain, fast disappear-
ing from the effects of weather, among which the
portrait of a pope can be distinguished — probably
that of Honorius III., and so described by Millini.f
Urban VIII. had the church restored and remodelled
by Bernini who designed the fa9ade, and executed
the figure of S. Bibiana at the high altar. In the in-
terior are 8 ancient columns, two of marble with
Corinthian capitals, the others of granite. On the
right of the nave are frescoes representing events in
the life of S. Bibiana, by Agostino Ciampelli ; those
on the left, by Pietro da Cortona. In an alabaster
sarcophagus under the high altar are the relics of
* Iiiscr. Christ., tome i., v. 167.
t Storia delle Chiese di Roma, p. 260.
204 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Bibiana, and near the door is the stump of a column,
against which it is said she was beaten to death. The
altar of the martyr S. Simplicius was decorated by
an abbess of the adjoining convent in the xiii. cen-
tury, as an inscription records, now no longer decipher-
able.
Other monuments to the nuns of the convent are
unfortunately no longer in existence.
Feast day. — December 2.
The Station is on the 5th Friday in Lent.
s. BIBIANA was a noble Roman girl, martyred with
her mother Dafrosa, her father Flavianus, and her
sister Demetria, under Julian the Apostate in a.d. 362.
Bibiana, rejecting all the attempts made to force her
to renounce her faith, was bound to a column in a
public place and flogged, and finally pierced with a
dagger. The frescoes on the walls of the church
represent the refusal of Bibiana to sacrifice to idols,
her martyrdom, the death of Demetria, Bibiana's body
being watched by a dog, and the church being built
by Olympia. Between these are pictures of Olympia
and the other martyrs. S. Bibiana is patron of Seville,
and in Germany " des buveurs," " of drinkers."
S. BONAVENTURA DELIA POLVEEIEEA, a small church
beautifully placed on the Palatine, and reached by a
road which winds from the arch of Titus. Placed
along the last portion of this road are the stations of
the cross. The church was built by Cardinal F.
Barberini in 1625, and has been recently restored. It
and the annexed convent belong to the Reformed
Franciscans of S. Peter of Alcantara. Near by is
the gate to the convent of the Visitation, the only
building which still remains on the Palatine and which
occupies the area of the house of Augustus. Beneath
the altar is the body of S. Leonard of Port Maurice.
Feast day. — July 14.
For S. Bonaventura, see Part III., dealing with religious
orders.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 205
S. CALLISTO. — This church in the Trasteverian region, g ^^1.
is found mentioned as early as a.d. 594. It originated listo.
in one of the houses Avhere Christians congregated in
the years of persecution ; and here is shown the well
in which the body of Callistus was thrown. The Liber
Pontificalis states that Gregory III. restored the church
in 740, and decorated it with frescoes, still visible in
the time of Severano. Annexed to the church is a
monastery of Cassinese Benedictines, removed here
from the Quirinal by Paul V. (1605 — 1621) to allow of
additions to his palace. This Pope also rebuilt the
monastery, formerly the palace of Cardinal Moroni,
and restored the church.
Feast day. — October 14.
cALLisTUB was deacou to Zephyrinus, and a Roman.
Little was known of him, except the important fact
that he gave his name to the great Papal cemetery on
the Via Appia, of which his predecessor had made him
administrator (a.d. 203-220). Some strong opposition
to him is obvious in Tertullian, and Hippolytus had
disagreed with his doctrine of the Trinity ; but on the
other hand Julius I. (340), the host of Athanasius, and
the opponent of Sabellianism, dedicated a church in
his honour, and the memory of Calhstus as a martyr
was much revered in the early Church. According
to the tradition, he was killed in a tumultuous rising
against the Christians, being thrown out of a window
of his house in Trastevere — a site known as Area
Callisti — and his body cast into a well. This was
afterwards recovered and buried in the catacomb of
Octavilla on the Via Aurelia. But in 1851 the publica-
tion of the Philosophumena, dealing with the questions
of discipline and faith agitated in the Christian Church
at the opening of the in. century, gave rise to a
whole literature, and threw an unpleasing light on the
times and especially on the character of Callistus.
The Philosophumena were written about a.d. 234, after
the death of the Pope. They represent him as a run-
away slave ; give an account of his having engaged in
2o6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
banking, failed, and fled his creditors ; say that, on his
return, Pope Victor (193-203) was by no means glad
to see him ; and stigmatize him as a Sabellian. The
tone of the author is so hostile as to awake suspicion.
Callistus was, in fact, " the son of Domitius," and his
father may have been a libertus of the Gens Domitiana.
Callistus may have failed without being fraudulent.
There appears to be no evidence of his favouring the
The moral Sabellians. And finally, in the moral questions which
and dog- disturbed his day Callistus may have been on the
^estions ^^^^^^ side, and the author of the Philosophumena on
of his day. the wrong. The question of the lapsed, and of grave
sinners, we have seen in other places was met by
Zephyrinus and Callistus in a broad and merciful
spirit, congenial to the traditions of the Roman pontiffs,
but failing to meet the views of rigorists, and of a
millennialism fast passing away. On the question of
the evil life of the clergy [pessimcB conversationis), Cal-
listus was anxious that the Church should be held
uncontaminated, and the ministrations of the bishops
valid, until they were manifestly convicted of their
crimes. On the dogmatic question the popes of that
time, though in no sense monarchicists — i.e., ready to
identify the Father and the Son — were careful not to
give countenance to the violent opponents of Sabel-
lianism, who easily degraded their doctrine into a
tritheism. The law of the Twelve Tables had for-
bidden patricians and plebeians to intermarry. Cal-
listus permitted it. Tertullian and the Montanists
canvassed the permission hotly, refusing to recognise
these occulta conjunctiones, while Hippolytus asserted
that the permission to marry below one's own
degree, whether slave or free, led to crime. They
were marriages not recognised by the civil law of
the time, and therefore void except before the Chris-
tian Church.
The author of the Philosophumena does not allude
to Callistus' martyrdom. He does indeed say that
Callistus " martyrised in the following way," but this
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 207
is followed by the scandalous story above related, and
reference to a subsequent exile for his religion.
Perhaps the chief light thrown by the Philosophumena
— that extraordinary discovery — is not on the character
of Callistus, nor on the dogmatic view^s of popes, but
on the acrid controversies possible between the greatest
Christians, and the corruption among clergy and laity,
at this period ; and also on the early rise of the odium
theologicum which we find rampant, even in the West,
at the end of the 11. century !
S. CABLO AL CORSO, dedicated to SS. Ambrogio e
Carlo, the Lombard saints. This large church was
built by the Lombards in the xvii. century. Its
architects were the Lunghi, father and son. The large
cupola, tribune, and high altar are due to Pietro da
Cortona. The interior, completed in 16 14, consists
of a nave and aisles, with 3 chapels on either side.
It is ornamented with rich marbles and gilding. The
picture over the high altar of S. Carlo in glory with
SS. Ambrose and Sebastian, is by Maratta. Round
the choir is an ambulatory, with open arches looking
on to it, a form rare in Rome, but resembling the
cathedral at Milan. The heart of S. Charles Borromeo
is preserved behind the high altar,
S. CARLO ALLE QUATTBO FONTANE (S. CARLINO). — This
little church was built by the Spanish discalced Trini-
tarians in 1640, who still possess it. It is the work of
Borromini, and is oval in shape, with 8 Corinthian
pillars on each side. Over the high altar is a picture
of S. Charles Borromeo. In this church is the monu-
ment to that Casimir Denoff who was sent by John
Sobieski to Innocent XI. concerning the liberation of
Vienna. The annexed convent is the residence of the
Council General of the Spanish Trinitarians.
Feast day. — November 4.
For S. Charles Borromeo, see Part 111. dealing with religious
orders.
2o8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. CATEEINA MAGNANAPOLI.— This church, dedicated
to S. Catherine of Siena, was built, with the annexed
convent, for Dominican nuns in the xvii. cen-
tury. The convent was originally the palace of the
Princes Conti, of which the great tower delle Milizie
was part, and which covered all the ground now
occupied by the Magnanapoli and the Hotel Laurati.
Some ruins called Balnea Pauli,-'- mentioned in the
" Visitations" of Alexander VII., existed on this ground.
A portion of the convent was destroyed by Sixtus V.
to make room for the new street leading from the
Forum of Trajan to the Quirinal Hill. The church,
of one single nave, is rectangular in form, and is
approached by steps and a portico. At the high altar
is a statue of S. Catherine of Siena, attributed to
Bernini.
For S. Catherine of Siena, see Part III. of this handbook.
S. CECILIA IN TEASTEVERE.— This basiUca consecrated
to the memory of S. Cecilia, had its origin as early as
230, during the pontificate of Urban I., and from the
v. century it is mentioned as one of the most ancient
titular churches in the city. In 545 an account is
given in the Liber PontificaHs, of Pope Vigilius being
surprised and attacked by an emissary of the Empress
Theodora sent from Constantinople, while he was
celebrating the feast of S. Cecilia in her church.
Stephen III. was titular of this basilica before his
election as pope, and lived in a house close by (768).
Restora- We first learn of this basilica being restored in the
tions. IX. century by Pope Paschal to receive the body of
S. Cecilia. It was again restored in 1283, and the
present altar and confession built by Arnolfo the
Florentine. New restorations which greatly altered
its old character were made in 1599, when the marble
pillars of the gallery were walled in by Cardinal
Sfondrato, nephew of Gregory XIV. ; but the ancient
columns of the nave remained intact until 1823, when
* From which we get Bagnanapoli, MagnanapoH.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 209
Cardinal Giorgio Doria, titular of the church, fearing
their strength insufficient for the wall above, enclosed
them in the present pilasters.
Nevertheless, the church retains much of its ancient
character. It is approached by an atrium or outer Atrium,
court ; the marble urn or cantharus, which formerly
stood in the centre of this, is still preserved on the
right hand side. The narthex or portico next the
church consists of four antique Ionic columns and two
pillars with Corinthian capitals. On the entablature
above these, are rough ix. century mosaics, and over
each pillar medallion portraits of the saints whose
relics Paschal I. deposited in the church; one of S.
Cecilia being on either side of the central cross. The
walls of the atrium were originally decorated with
frescoes representing scenes in the life of S. Cecilia,
probably of the xiii. century. Fragments of these
still remain, removed to the interior of the church.
The tribune is raised above the level of the nave, and Mosaics of
is still decorated with mosaics of the time of Paschal, apse,
(ix. century), as the inscription in the apse records.
These mosaics are of the same date as those in S.
Maria in Domnica. They represent the Saviour,
between S. Paul, S. Agata, and Pope Paschal on the
one side, the last wearing the square nimbus ; on the
other, S. Peter, S. Cecilia, with Valerian her husband
between them. Above, a hand holds out a wreath ;
below is the lamb and the 12 sheep. The mosaics,
barbarous in style, are probably by a Byzantine
artist. Over the high altar, which is the work of
Arnolfo (1283), is a marble canopy upon 4 columns
of Egyptian marble. Beneath is the confession of the
saint, and the beautiful marble figure of Cecilia by
Stefano Maderno. In the tribune, is an ancient
episcopal chair, and a spiral mosaic candelabrum.
This portion of the church has been the least altered
since the ix. century. Here is Guido Reni's mar-
tyrdom of Cecilia. The roof of the nave has been
decorated by Sebastian Conca. On entering the
2IO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
church, to the right, is the tomb of Adam Hertford,
an EngHsh prelate, and titular of this church, who
narrowly escaped being put to death by Urban VI.
(1378-1389) at Genoa, owing to his opposition to that
pope. The arras of England are upon the monument.
Second The second chapel on the right, that of S. Cecilia,
chapel on formed part of the original house ; traces of a furnace
the right, ^^^ q£ ig^den pipes can still be seen in the walls,
Cecilia showing it to have been part of the bath room. The
altarpiece of S. Cecilia in this chapel is by Giulio
Romano, and the landscapes by Paul Brill ; in the
vestibule is a picture of Cecilia and Valerian with the
angel, by Domenichino.* The chapel on the right of
the high altar contains the ancient painting, from the
atrium, of the apparition of S. Cecilia to Paschal. A
XV. century bas-relief of the Madonna and Child, from
here has recently been replaced on the Fortiguerra monu-
ment (left of entrance). In the vault of the sacristy
are paintings of the 4 Evangelists, by Pinturicchio.
Monas- The adjoining monastery, built by Paschal " in
^^'■y- honour of the holy virgins and martyrs Agatha and
Cecilia," was long occupied by Benedictine monks, and
then by the Umiliati order, till Clement VI I. gave it
in 1530 to the Benedictine nuns, who still hold it.
Feast day. — November 22.
The Station is on the 3rd Wednesday in Lent.
s. CECILIA is one of the most beautiful figures in
early hagiography, and one of the most important
members and martyrs of the infant Church. Her
influence on Valerian and Tiburtius, two nobles of the
Gentile world, was unheard of before Christianity, and
made an epoch memorable in its development in Rome.
Cecilia, a member of the great Roman family of the
* " Valirian goth home, and fint Cecilie
Withinne his chambre with an aungel stonde.
This aungel had of roses and of lilie
Corounes tuo, the which he bar in honde."
Chaucer, Secounde Nonnes Tale.
This incident was introduced into the story by Chaucer.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 211
Cecilii, who had their sepulchres on the Via Appia
from the time of Augustus, and a Christian sepolcreto
adjacent to Lucina's crypts as early as the 11. cen-
tury of our era, was brought up a Christian ; and has
been supposed to have suffered during the pontifi-
cate of Urban {circa 230), from the following events in
her life •.■■' She was beloved by Valerian, and married
to him. But she told him she had an angel who loved
her, and with exceeding watchfulness guarded her.
" Est secretum, Valeriane, quod tibi volo dicere: Ange-
lum Dei habeo amatorem, qui nimio zelo custodit
corpus meum." Valerian desired to see the angel, and
Cecilia replied that he could not see it unless he were
baptized ; and moved by curiosity to see the angel,
Valerian said he was ready to be baptized.
. She therefore sent him to Urban the bishop, " who
lay hidden in the sepulchres of the martyrs on the
Via Appia, on account of the persecution." Giving the
appointed signal, he was taken to Urban, who baptized
him ; and returning to Cecilia and praying with her, he
saw the angel who kept her. CaUing his brother
Tiburtius, in his astonishment, he in his turn was
taught the faith by Cecilia, and being baptized, also
saw her angel. " To-day," she exclaimed, " I have
made you my brother, since the love of God has made
you despise idols. As the love of God has made thy
brother my husband, so has it made thee my brother."
This beautiful story is told by Chaucer in his " Second
Nonne's Tale."
Both Valerian and Tiburtius suffered martyrdom
with great constancy a little while after under the
Prefect Almachius. " We believe," they said, "that
Christ the son of God is truly God, who elected for
Himself such a Servant as Cecilia." The Prefect then
ordered Cecilia herself to be apprehended. Being
* The Acta S. Cecilia must have been compiled in the iv.
or V. century, but not later than this, frequent allusions to
them being made in the prayers of Popes Leo and Gelasius
(440 and 492).
14—2
212 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
asked her name, she answered, " Cecilia among men ;
but what is much more distinguished, I am a Christian."
He inquired of her where the wealth of her husband
and of Tiburtius was to be found, Cecilia responded
that she had given it all to the poor. Enraged at this
answer he ordered that she should be taken back to
. her house, and burnt in the heating-room attached to
the bath. But remaining there a day and night un-
harmed, an executioner was sent, who struck three
blows at her neck and left her half dead. Cecilia lived
for three days, exhorting those round her, and then
gained the double palm of the pure and those " faithful
unto death."
Date of The martyrologies, as we have seen, place this
her martyrdom in the time of Pope Urban, i.e., 227-233,
martyr- circa. But in the martyrology of Ado, while the bishop.
°"^' is called Urban, it is stated that Cecilia died under
Aurelius and Commodus (161- 180), with no explana-
tion of the discrepancy. It has now been ascertained
beyond doubt, that the actual date of her martyrdom
was during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Com-
modus— that is, about the year a.d. 177, the year
in which Irenceus also sufiFered. The bishop Urban of
her story was, then, a bishop for the country district
of the Via Appia, of whose movements, as he lay hidden
under her own property,''' Cecilia would be aware.
Resting- The Itineraries tell us that Valerian and Tiburtius
place of lay in the cemetery of Pratextatus close by ; and the
these relationship between the Cecilii and Praetextati re-
martyrs, ceives confirmation from a tomb which lies near
that of Cecilia, and which is that of a Praetextatus
Cecilianus. Pope Paschal, in the early ix. century,
dreamed of the spot where Cecilia lay, and thus
discovered her tomb in the catacomb. When it
was opened in the xvi. century, the body was
seen by the sculptor Maderno lying just as he has
represented it in the beautiful statue in her church —
that church on the site of her dwelling which she had
* Vide the catacomb " of CalUstus," ch. x.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 213
always desired might be consecrated as such.* The
Christians had buried her just as she lay on the floor
of the Bath in her house for those three days. It is
interesting to learn that De Rossi has himself assisted
at the translation of a body from the catacombs on
the Appia to a church three miles distant, without the
displacement of a single member. The remains of
Cecilia were however at this second opening in the
XVI. century, at once affected by the action of the
air.
Cecilia is considered the heavenly patron of music ; Patron of
to her being legendarily attributed the invention of the music,
organ. She is represented with a little organ in her
hand, richly dressed, and with the martyr's palm. On The ves-
the Eve of her feast, and on the feast day itself, P^^s of her
(November 21 and 22) the antiphon to the first Psalm ®^^*'
of Vespers is sung with great solemnity after the
Psalm. The words are :" Cantantibus organis, Caecilia
Domino decantabat, dicens : Fiat cor meum et corpus
meum immaculatum ut non confundar " (Playing on
the organ, Cecilia sang thus to the Lord : May my
heart and body be immaculate, that I may not be
confounded). On the morning of November 22 there
is solemn high mass. On the eve the Cardinal Titular
(Rampolla) assists, and celebrates Mass on the feast-
day.
S. CESAEEO IN TTIBRIM, at the bifurcation of the Appia
and Via Latina, probably deriving its name from some
mediaeval tower now destroyed, is a small and ancient
church which has often been confused with S. Cesareo
in Palatio, and is still so called in most guide-books.
The Abbe Duchesne has however proved the two
churches to be distinct. S. Cesareo in Palatio no
longer exists. Both churches had annexed monas-
teries of Greek monks. S. Cesareo in Turrim is an
old diaconate. It was restored under Clement VIII.,
who gave it to the Somaschi Fathers of the Clemen-
* See supra .
214 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
tine college he had instituted. It has been again
restored of late years, so that Httle remains of its
ancient form. It still possesses a raised presbytery
with marble screen, dating from the middle ages ; a
marble pulpit with spiral columns decorated with
carving and mosaic ; and an ancient episcopal throne
in the tribune. The tribune mosaics are by Cav.
D'Arpino.
Feast day. — November i.
Little is known of s. cesario. He has been much
venerated from the vi. century, both in East and
West, and was, it seems, martyred at Terracina for
his opposition to the worship of Apollo. He was in
deacon's orders. His body Hes in S. Croce.
S. CLATJDIO. — This church, in the Piazza S. Claudio,
was built by the Burgundians in the last century. It
is dedicated to S. Claudio and S. Andrea their patrons.
S. Claudio has been for some years administered by
the fathers of the " Perpetual Adoration."
Feast day. — June 6.
cLATjDiirs was a bishop of Besan^on, and is much
venerated in France.
S. Cle- S. CLEMENTE. — The history of this church, one of the
mente. most interesting in Rome, takes us back almost to
History. Apostolic times. It is mentioned by Jerome in his
De viris illustribus about 385, as even then most ancient.
Signor Armellini* relates that Lelio Pasqualini, a con-
temporary of Baronius, possessed a bronze plate from
the collar of a slave, bearing an inscription to the effect
that if caught the slave was to be returned to one
Victorius, an acolyte of S. Clemente. " Tene me quia
fugi et reboca me Victori acolito a dominicu Clementis."
The church is here styled dominicum, a term as we
know, used in the beginning of the iv. centuiy, but
already in disuse at its close. The church was in use
* Chiese di Roma.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 215
at the time of Constantine, and was probably built
upon one of the first places of assembly of the early
Christians, and quite possibly upon the house of
Clement (106-108), as tradition asserts.
In this church were deposited the relics of S. Cyril,
and Methodius his brother, and of the two Clements.
Here was condemned the heretic Pelagius, under Pope
Zosimus (411) ; here also Gregory the Great read one
of his homilies, and under the portico the Servulus
mentioned by Gregory sat and begged for many years.
This early basilica, already so celebrated, must have
been partly destroyed and encumbered with rubbish
after the great fires of Robert Guiscard in 1084, and in
the XII. century the present church of S. Clemente was
built upon its ruins. All memory and trace of the
earlier church in time disappeared, and the present
building was supposed to be the original edifice men-
tioned by Jerome until 1857, when during some
restorations undertaken in the adjoining monastery, a
fragment of a painted wall was discovered, some 20 feet
below the present level of the soil. This led to the
excavation, thanks to the efforts and zeal of the Prior
of the monastery Father MuUooly, of the entire Con-
stantinian basilica, which we now see as the subter-
ranean church of S. Clemente. The earher church
was still in use in 1059, as this date occurs upon a
family monument in the narthex as that of the latest
interment in the vault, whereas the second church was
probably built soon after 1125.* Among the materials
of a recently demolished house in the neighbourhood,
two fragments of a sepulchral metrical inscription
have been found, of the xi. or xii. century, which
throw much light upon the building of the present
S. Clemente. From these and other evidence, it
appears that Cardinal Anastasius, who was titular of
the church under Honorius II., and whose name occurs
upon an inscription on the back of the episcopal chair,
* This church was consecrated on May 26, 1128, as we learn
from Psalter 175 in the Vatican archives.
2i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
undertook the erection of the new church. Dying
before its completion, he entrusted the work to one
Peter, in all probability the Petrus Pisanus compiler
of the Liber Pontificalis of Leo IX. (1049- 1055) and
Paschal IL (1099-1118), condemned during the schism
of Anacletus II., and restored to favour by the inter-
cession of S. Bernard. He was contemporary of John
of Salzburg, and afterwards titular of S. Clemente,
where both he and Cardinal Anastasius were buried.'"
Ambones. The beautiful ambones and marble screen of the
choir are of a much earlier date however, and led
archaeologists to beUeve that the present S. Clemente
was the older building ; but it is obvious from the
rough and careless manner in which the screen is put
together, that it is not in its original position, and was
no doubt removed from the older church.
Screen of The greater part of this marble screen is of the vi.
choir. century. At the base of the column, on the side of the
gospel ambone, is an inscription belonging to the
ancient altar, in vi. century letters, of Pope Hor-
misdas (514-523), in which occurs the name of Mer-
curius, presbyter. This name occurs again in the
capital of one of the two columns round the tomb of
Cardinal Venerio (ob. 1489). The capital is of the vi.
century, and bears the inscription, " Mercuritis Pb see
ecclesicB Romans servus Dmi." Mercurius became Pope
John II. in 532, and his monogram is found also in
portions of the screen. Some fragments also are
found of a still older screen, built in with the later
portions, and which bear the name of Pope Siricius
(384-398). An inscription of Pope Damasus seems
also to have been placed in the church of S. Clemente,
showing that this pope restored or embellished it,
pieces of such an inscription having been found among
the ruins.
Lower The lower church is now approached by a broad
church. flight of stairs from the sacristy, upon the walls of
* Watterich, Pontificum rom. vita.
Liber Pontificalis.
Duchesne, Etudes sur le
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 217
which are plans and drawings of the excavations, and
copies of some of the frescoes.
It was built upon a larger scale than the present
church, the outer wall of which is supported by the
columns of its right aisle, while an additional wall was
built through the nave of the lower church to support
the nave pillars above. The stairs open into the
narthex or vestibule of the subterranean church. The
outer wall of this is of ancient Roman masonry, and
built into the inner wall are 8 marble columns, one
of verde antico and one of breccia corallina. At the
further end of the narthex, is a door which probably Narthex.
led into the original qtiadriporticns of the church.
Some ancient sarcophagi were found at this spot,
and some fragments of marble pavement bearing
the names of two consuls of the age of Constan-
tine.
The ancient tribune, approached by a few steps, was
considerably larger than the present one, and to the
left of this are the original stairs leading into a por-
tion of an ancient Roman house, excavated under the
care of Fr. Mullooly, possibly the house and oratory Oratory of
of S. Clement and in any case of the 11. century S. Cle-
A.D., of the period when the Christians assembled r"ent.
secretly in the houses of the faithful. Some of the
rooms are decorated with stucco, and here was
found a statue of the same period, representing the
Good Shepherd. These rooms were incorporated with
the Constantinian basilica as a sanctuary, but are now
unfortunately inaccessible, owing to their being partly
filled with water. At the same low level behind the
apse, a large temple dedicated to the god Mithras Temple of
was found, with an altar decorated with a bas-relief Mithras,
representing the sacrifice of a bull to this deity. This
chamber must have been so adapted during some
interval when the house had passed to pagan pro-
prietors, as the worship of Mithras in Rome was of late
introduction.
The whole structure of the church rests upon an Founda-
tions.
2i8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
older foundation of blocks of travertine and tufa of the
Republican period.
The walls of the lower church are decorated with
frescoes, dating from the v. to the xi. century, some
of which are in excellent preservation.
Frescoes In the narthex, at the foot of the stairs, imme-
ofnar- diately to the right are two heads — the female one
thex. ^-^j^ ^ halo, attributed by De Rossi to the iv. or
V. century. On the opposite wall, Christ with a
broad nimbus between the archangels Gabriel and
Michael whose names appear above, with S. Clement
and S. Andrew, who present to Him two figures
bearing a chalice and candle, possibly SS. Cyril and
Methodius his brother. ^= These figures are now
barely discernible. This is of the ix. or x. century.
F'urther on, on the right, a miracle at the tomb of
S. Clement in Cherson in the Crimea where he is
buried. The fresco represents a mother finding her
lost child, which she raises from the tomb ; lighted
tapers are round it, behind is a procession of priests.
Beneath, S. Clement in a medallion with an inscription,
and figures of the donor and his family, Beno Rapiza
his wife Maria, and his children Clement and Attilia,
the sea and fishes around them. Rapiza's name occurs
again on a fresco in the nave. There are many ancient
graffiti of visitors to the basilica scratched upon the walls
at this spot. Further on is the transference of the body
of S. Cyril from the Vatican to this church. This was
done by Pope Nicholas I. in 863 ; Cyril's tomb is
probably that which now stands in the left aisle.
Of right Proceeding along the right aisle, we find : in a niche
aisle. the Madonna and Child between S. Catherine of
Alexandria and S. Euphemia. Near it, much effaced :
the sacrifice of Abraham, the scene of a council,
possibly ; and near this, a pair of Roman scales with
the motto : " Stateram auget modium iustum." Next,
Christ in the act of benediction, a headless figure.
* In the inscription which was placed in this basilica, we have
Nicholas I.'s record of the Slav Apostle's visit to Rome.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 219
In the left aisle, at the tribune end : the crucifixion of Of left
Peter, with figures of other Apostles ; this is hardly aisle,
discernible ; S. Cyril before Michael III. King of
Bulgaria. S. Antoninus, martyr under Diocletian, and
Daniel among the lions, with the name S. Daniehel
upon the side of the pilaster dividing the aisle from
the nave.
At the extreme end, near the vestibule : some much-
effaced frescoes on a pier, a figure of S. Prosperius,
and three frescoes on the walls of S. Libertius,
mentioned in S. Gregory's first book of Dialogues.
In the nave, to the left as you enter from the of the
vestibule, are a group of subjects from the New nave.
Testament ; a Crucifixion and Assumption ; in this
appear S. Vitus and Leo IV. (847-855), the latter wear-
ing a square nimbus, to show that he was still living ;
and the inscription : S. Dom. Leo IV. PP. Rom. The
number of apostles present shows this to be in fact
an Assumption, and not an Ascension as is sometimes
assumed. Further on occurs the miracle of Cana,
with the word Architriclimis ; the Marys round the
tomb ; and Christ rescuing Adam and Eve from Hades.
Beyond to the left, on the pillar, scenes in the life
of S. Alexis, his return from Palestine unknown to
his father Euphemianus and other incidents ; then,
S. Egidius, and S. Blaise taking a thorn from the
throat of a child. Further on, a fresco in three sections :
the enthronement of Clement, with S. Peter and the
Popes Linus and Cletus ; S. Clement celebrating
mass,* and below the miracle of Sisinus. The centre
fresco is of deep interest, and is excellently preserved.
We see the solemn act of the oblation performed by the
entire congregation, women and men each bearing to
the altar the corona shaped bread for the Eucharist,
carried on a mappula. On the missal is the salutation
so frequent in the mass, Dominus vobiscum. The form
of the vestments should also be noticed. Upon the
* This, and the scenes of the life of Alexis and of Cyril, are by
the same hand, and are of the ix. century.
220 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
three frescoes several names occur, among them those
of Sisinus and his wife Theodora, Hving in the time of
Trajan. On the side of the same pier, Daniel and
the lions.
A modern altar has been erected in this lower
church under which have been placed the relics of
SS. Clement and Ignatius lately discovered. Behind
is the remnant of the apse of the primitive church.
Upper As we have seen, the upper church of S. Clemente,
church. which opens onto the street running between the
Lateran and the Colosseum, was built about 1125-
II 28, and is the best preserved church of that period
in Rome. The atrium which measures 62 feet by
50 feet, is the most perfect in Rome, and is surrounded
on three sides by a portico of Ionic columns. It is
entered by a doorway obviously put together with
fragments of marble from a still older building, and
crowned with a canopy of the xiii. century. A foun-
tain now stands in the centre of the court, replacing
the original cantharus.
Nave. The nave of the church is divided from the aisles
by rows of pillars differing in material and order, 16
Aisles. in number. The right aisle of this church, which,
according to ancient usage, was that reserved for men,
is considerably smaller than the left aisle, that of the
women.
In front of the high altar is the ancient choir already
Ambones. described ; on either side are the ambones, that on the
left with a double stair and candelabrum, which is
beautifully decorated with mosaic, for the reading of
the gospel ; that on the right, for the epistle. -'■ The
Bema. bema or presbytery, is divided from the nave by
a marble screen of the same period as that of the
Episcopal choir. The ancient episcopal throne stands in the
throne. tribune. Both the tribune vault and arch are
Mosaics, decorated with mosaic. Those of the arch are pro-
bably of the same date as the church, and represent
* In replacing this choir, the gospel ambone has been put on
what is, in fact, the epistle side of the old basilica altar.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 221
the Redeemer between two angels and the emblems
of the four EvangeUsts. Below SS. Peter and
Clement and SS. Paul and Laurence, with the two
prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. Above, the hand
holding a wreath ; and below, the lamb and the
twelve sheep, with the two cities of Bethlehem and
Jerusalem.
The mosaics of the vault are later in date, and were
placed there at the expense of a nephew of Boni-
face VIII., Cardinal Tomassio, in 1297. They repre-
sent the Redeemer on the cross, with the four doctors of
the church. Below, the four mystic rivers ; the whole
entwined with arabesques and birds. The frescoes on Frescoes,
the walls are of the xv. century, and are said to be by
Giovenale da Orvieto.
On the right of the high altar is a small chapel Chapel on
containing the statue of John the Baptist, by Simeone, "ght.
brother of Donatello ; close by is a monument to
Cardinal Roverella (1476). On the left of the high Chapel
altar is the modern Chapel of the Rosary, containing oi the
a picture of the Madonna, by Conca. In the first Rosary,
chapel on the left of the great entrance are Massaccio's ^^^^^
frescoes, unfortunately much restored. Over the altar Lff^^ °"
is a Crucifixion, and on one side scenes from the life
of S. Clement ; on the other, of S. Catherine of Alex-
andria. These represent her dispute with the doctors,
her deliverance, her martyrdom, the saint teaching the
daughter of King Maximilian, and her burial. On the
outside of the chapel an Annunciation, below S. Chris-
topher.
Feast day. — November 23. The lower church is lit up on
January 31 and February i, the Eve and Feast of S. Ignatius, and
for the " Station " on the 2nd Monday in Lent.
8. CLEMENT (CLEMENS ROMANES), ouc of the most rcvered
Roman names, and himself one of the makers of
Christian Rome, and the friend of Peter and Paul,
became head of the church at the end of the i. cen-
tury. His family came from Palestrina, and he had
received a careful education.
222 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
This man of commanding personality has paid the
penalty in being the subject of a great accretion of
legend. Under Trajan he was banished to the Crimea,
where 2,000 Christians laboured in the stone-quarries.
The miracle of causing water to gush forth to relieve
the intolerable thirst from which they suffered led to
his being thrown into the sea, and round his death
gathers the greatest number of marvels. In response
to the Christians' prayers the sea receded, exposing a
little marble temple in which lay his body.
His attributes in art are the anchor, which was
hung round his neck, and he is habited as pope, but
without the tiara.'''
SS. COSMA E DA.MIANO, a church in the Roman
Forum on the left of the Via Sacra, one of the most
interesting in Rome, consists of various pagan build-
ings incorporated into a church by Pope Felix IV.
(526-530).
The quadrilateral edifice, the main portion of the
church, was the original Templum Pacis built by
Vespasian, in which according to the latest authori-
ties, the city archives were kept. After the great fire
of 198 A.D., it was restored by Septimius Severus and
Caracalla, who affixed to it the plan of Rome, frag-
ments of which can still be seen. The edifice was
then called Templum Sacrae Urbis.f Against the
posterior portion of this,, but with a separate en-
trance, the Emperor Maxentius built a circular temple
to his son Romulus in the iv. century, and the two
were incorporated into one building by Pope Felix.
This temple of Romulus, decorated with 4 Corinthian
columns, forms the vestibule of the church, the quadri-
lateral hall of the Templum Sacioim its body ; while
at the further end Fehx added an additional hall,
reached through what was then an open apse ; this
* The Clementines were falsely ascribed to him, but we have
his work in the Epistle to the Corinthians,
t De Rossi, Bull. Arch. Christ.. 1867.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 223
hall is now the sacristy. With the gradual rise of the
level of the surrounding ground this church became
almost subterranean, and Urban VIII. caused a new
floor to be made, thus dividing it into two, the ancient
doors being moved to the upper portion. Recent ex-
cavations have now again laid bare the lower church,
and the ancient door and columns have once more
been removed to their original place. In the lower
church can still be seen the ancient altar, the bases
of the columns of the ciborium, and on the walls the
remains of frescoes. Here also is a well, in which it
is said Christians were thrown during the Neronian
persecutions.
The ancient mosaics of the tribune, of the time of
Felix IV., still remain in the upper church, and are
among the most remarkable in Rome. Upon the
arch is the mystic lamb enthroned with the book of
the 7 seals ; at the side, the 7 candlesticks and 2 of
the emblems of the Evangelists ; the 24 elders of the
Apocalypse casting their crowns before the Redeemer
on the face of the arch were almost entirely destroyed
by the restorations of Urban VIII.
In the vault of the tribune is a colossal figure of
Christ, with long hair and a nimbus, clad in yellow
draperies, and against a red and gold ground. Above,
the hand with a wreath, signifying the Eternal Father.
At the side, Cosma and Damian led by Peter and
Paul. These are large figures, the faces portrayed
with considerable power, the expression full of fervour
and reverence. Pope Felix is on the left, clad in
yellow drapery and a blue under-garment. The face of
this pope, having perished in the time of Gregory XIII.,
was replaced by a portrait of Gregory the Great, as we
learn fromUgonio. Under Alexander VII. (1655- 1667)
Cardinal Barberini once more replaced the head of
Felix IV., which is therefore quite modern.
Sergius I., in about 695, added the ambones and the
ciborium, and the roof was restored by Adrian I. and
Leo III.
224 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
This church was also called in tribtis fatis, a name
very likely derived from some group of the three
Fates, which may have stood close by. The amal-
gamation of the two names Cosma and Damian into
Cosmato is recorded by Camerario.
The church was given to the third order of
S. Francis by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, after-
wards Paul III. The church is open for the Station
on the 4th Sunday in Lent.
SS. COSMA E DAMIANO IN TRA8TEVERE, commonly
called S. Cosmato in Mica Aurea, stands at the foot of
the Janiculum Hill, and takes its name of Mica Aurea
from the yellow sand of this region. The church
stands upon the site of the Campus Brutianus, and
probably arose in the x. century. It was recorded
among the abbeys of Rome by Petrus Mallius in the
XII. century ; but the most complete accounts of
the church have come down to us from the MS.
chronicle of Suor Orsola Formicini,* compiled in 1607,
who was abbess of the convent in 1598.
From this chronicle we learn that the monastery
was for a long time held by Benedictine monks, from
whom it passed to the nuns called " Recluses of
S. Damiano." The monastery was one of the richest
in Rome, and owned vineyards, olive orchards, salt-
mines and villages. The hospital in which lived S.
Francis of Assisi, was one of its dependencies, with
9 other abbeys outside Rome. In 1475 Sixtus IV.
rebuilt the church from its foundations, and it has
been several times restored. It is approached by a
court in which stands a large granite urn. The
fa9ade has been attributed to Pintelli. Over the high
altar is a supposed miraculous image of the Madonna ;
to the left, a Madonna with S. Francis and S. Chiara
by Pinturicchio.
A stone excavated on the banks of the Tiber, with
• A copy exists in the librarj- of the CoUegio Romano, and
another in the Vatican : Cod. Vat. 7,847.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 225
a VI. century inscription, shows that a Christian
cemetery of Mica Atirea existed in this vicinity.
In the catalogue of Turin (xv. century), the
convent is stated to have consisted of 35 nuns of
the order of S. Clare, with two Friars minor to
officiate.
Feast day. — September 27.
SB. coBMA AND DAMiAN, two brothcrs, werc Arabians
brought up by a pious Christian mother. They were
both learned physicians and surgeons, and spent their
whole time ministering to the poor and labouring
among the sick. During the persecutions of Dio-
cletian they were seized by the proconsul, but, says
the legend, angels saved them from death by water or
fire ; and when they were tied to crosses and stoned,
the stones fell short of them. They were then looked
upon as enchanters, and were beheaded. In art, they
are always represented together. They are both
young, and wear the loose robes of the physician,
generally red, tipped with fur ; they wear red caps, and
hold a Uttle box of ointment and a lancet. They are
the patron saints of the Medici family.
S. CRISOGONO in Trastevere is perhaps of Con-
stantinian origin, and retains much of its primitive
character, although it is improbable that the present
pavement is at its original level. The adjacent ex-
cavations of the cxcubitorium, or station of the Roman
firemen, indicate the old level of the soil, and it is pos-
sible that under the present church some remains of
the Constantinian basilica exist.
We know from the Liber Pontificalis, that
Gregory III. restored the roof in about 731, and
decorated the walls with paintings, and annexed to it
a monastery dedicated to S. Stephen, S. Laurence,
and S. Chrisogonus. Among the monks was the
Stephen elected pope in 768. In 1123 Giovanni da
Crema was titular of this church, imprisoned the anti-
pope Burdino, and was elected apostolic legate to
England by Honorius II. During the pontificates of
15
226 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Honorius III. and Innocent III. (1198-1216), Stephen
Langton Archbishop of Canterbury, was titular of
S. Crisogono.
The monastery was occupied by Benedictines until
the XII. century. Pius IX. finally gave the church
and monastery to the order of Trinitarians for the
Redemption of Slaves, who still possess them. They
had also been held by Canons, and by the Carmelites.
The interior of the church, of basilica form, consists
of a nave and two aisles, divided by 22 granite
columns, from the baths of Septimius Severus. The
arch of the tribune is supported by two porphyry
columns of rare size and material. The pavement is
Cosmatesque work of the xiii. century.
Until this century, Guercino's picture of the titular
saint figured in the centre of the roof. It is now in
the Duke of Sutherland's collection, and is replaced by
a copy. On the walls are fragments of inscriptions,
pagan and Christian, removed from the cemeteries in
the XVI. century. In the right aisle is the tomb
of the pious Roman lady Anna Maria Taigi, ob. 1837,
whose cause for beatification is now before the Holy
See. Only a portion of the ancient mosaics of the
tribune remains — a Virgin and Child, with S. Cjiso-
gonus and S. James. The ceiling paintings are by
Cav. d' Arpino. In front of the church is a portico with
4 oriental columns. The building was restored by
Cardinal Borghese in 1626. In this century a little
IV. century statue of the " Buon Pastore" was found
in the adjoining garden.
Feast day. — November 24.
The Station is on the 5th Monday in Lent.
8. cMsoooNTJs Suffered a two years' captivity under
Diocletian. Anastasia* supplied his needs during this
period, and in the constant correspondence between
them they comforted and encouraged each other.
Their friendship is beautifully narrated. At the end
of this time, brought before the emperor at Aquila,
• See p. 176.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 227
Crisogonus was offered high honours if he would
consent to worship the gods, and upon his refusal he
was put to death by the sword and his body thrown
into the sea. It was afterwards washed ashore, and
buried in his own garden by one Zoila a priest.
88. CROCE E BONAVENTUEA DEI LTTCCHE8I, a site inter-
esting as the residence of S. Ignatius Loyola, lies at the
foot of the Quirinal Hill, in a street of the same name.
The church was built in the xvii. century by the
inhabitants of Lucca, and two Lucchesi decorated
it. It has been recently restored and bought by the
congregation of Marie Reparatrice, who have moved
here from the little church in the Via degU Artisti so
well known to visitors in Rome.
88. DOMENICO E 8IST0. — This church, on the Quirinal
Hill, and at the summit of the Via Magnanapoli, was
erected in 161 1 under Urban VIII., for the use of the
Dominican nuns from the ancient convent of S. Sisto,^^-
on the Via Appia. The church was designed by
Delia Greca, and is approached by a double flight of
steps. The interior is decorated with frescoes by
Canuti, and there is much elaborate stucco work.
Chapels. — The I . on the right contains a marble group
of Christ and the Magdalen, by Raggi.
The I. on the left, a painting of Our Lady of the
Rosary, by Romanelli.
II. on the left, an altar-piece of the marriage of
S. Catherine, by Allegrani.
III. on left, a Crucifixion by Lanfranco.
Part of the convent is now used for Government
offices.
This church is dedicated to the Pope Sixtus II.
(see Catacomb Callistus, Chap. X.), and to S. Dominic.
Feast day. — August 6.
For S. Dominic, see Part III., dealing with the religious orders.
8. EUSEBIO, on the Esquiline, stands at the corner
of the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.
* See the account of the Dominicans in Part III. dealing with
religious orders.
13—2
228 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The foundation of this titular church is of great
antiquity, although of the original building nothing
now remains. It is said by tradition to have been
built upon the house of the priest Eusebius, one of
the Catholic champions against the heresies of Arius.
It is mentioned in 494 in the catalogue of Gelasius,
and in 504 ; and in the catacomb of SS. Marcellino e
Pietro, on the Via Labicana, an inscription of the
beginning of the iv, century to a cleric of this church
— " Olympi Lectoris de Dominico Eusebii locus est " —
has lately been found. It is therefore possible that
the house of Eusebius, in which he was martyred,
was transformed into a church immediately after his
death, and consecrated by Pope Liberius (352-366)
even before the Arian persecutions had ceased. The
church is several times mentioned during the vi. vii.
and VIII. centuries. In 1230 it was rebuilt from its
foundations by Gregory IX., and in the new consecra-
tion the name of S. Vincenzo was associated with
that of S. Eusebius, and paintings of these two saints
adorned the pillars of the church, as we learn from an
inscription now in the portico.
Nothing of the xiii. century building has been
retained. It was twice restored and rebuilt, in 171 1
and in 1750, and its interesting inscriptions, recorded
by Bruzio, have perished.
The church originally belonged to the now extinct
order of Celestinians, and afterwards to the Jesuits
until 1870. It was a titular church until the pontifi-
cate of Gregory XVI., and after an interval, again
under Pius IX.
Under Sixtus IV. (1471) one of the first printing
presses was instituted in the monastery.
In the visitation of the year 1662, the abbot of the
monastery states that the church possessed certain
gardens, vineyards, woods, houses, and chapels in
Rome and Albano, with a revenue of 1608 scudi. The
number of priests was 8, of lay brothers 4, with 8
students and a reader.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 229
In 1699 some excavations undertaken by the Duca
d' Urbino, Spanish ambassador, brought to Hght a
small chapel, richly decorated, but which was then de-
stroyed.*
Feast day. — August 14.
The church is open for the Station on the 5th Friday in
Lent.
ExrsEBitJs Presbyter of the Roman Church, and the
opponent of Arius, lived in the pontificate of Liberius
(352-366). Though it is said he was done to death in
his own house by Constantius, he is known to the
Diario Romano as a noble Roman saint, not as a martyr.
He was one of the first martyrs for orthodoxy, as it
was for the Nicene faith that he was persecuted by
Constantius.
8. EXrSTACHIO. — According to an old tradition, this
church in the piazza of the same name, was called
S. Eustachio in Platana from a plane-tree (platana)
which flourished by it. On its site stood the house of
Eustachio, a descendant, so it was said, of the family
of Octavius. The church is mentioned as early as
795 in the Liber PontificaUs as a " diaconia Romana."
It was rebuilt in 1191 by Pope Celestin, and the
present bell tower is of this date, as we learn in an
inscription still intact. The original church was of
considerable interest ; it was built in basilica form,
and its pavement was rich in inscriptions, one among
them dating from the year 399.! Of the original
building nothing remains but the bell tower. The
present church is a small Renaissance structure, with
wide oval transept and apsidal tribune ; the high altar
and the first chapel to the left contain modern paint-
ings of scenes in the life of S. Eustace.
Under the high altar are preserved the bodies of
S. Eustachio, of his wife Theopista, and his children
Agapitus and Theopistas. The Roman nobility have
always shown the greatest devotion to S. Eustachio,
• Narrated by Ficorini, Not. d' Antichitd inFea, Misc. I. ccxvii.
t De Rossi, Inscr. Christ., p. 473.
230 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
and the celebrated family of the Counts of Tusculum,
claiming descent from the Emperor Octavius, assumed
the further title of Counts of S. Eustachio.
Feast day. — September 20.
8. EUBTAcmo (EtrsTACE), was a Roman soldier in the
service of the Emperor Hadrian, and was much ad-
dicted to hunting. According to the legend, he was
one day out hunting on the Mentorella mountains,
when he saw a stag with a crucifix between its horns,
and a voice said to him, "Be of good courage, for you
will bear many tribulations for My sake." Eustace
was by this miracle converted to Christianity with his
wife and two sons, and many misfortunes befell him.
His possessions were stolen, his wife and children
torn from him by pirates and wild beasts, and
Eustace himself fled from the world. After 15 years he
was recalled by Hadrian, and found his wife and
children had miraculously been restored to him.
Refusing to sacrifice to the gods, they were all shut
up inside a bronze bull, and a fire was kindled beneath.
Eustace appears in art as a Roman soldier, with the
miraculous stag beside him ; sometimes his sons are
with him, bearing palms.
8. PILIPPO IN PALAZZO MASSIMO.— A Room in this
palace was converted into a chapel and dedicated to
S. Philip Neri, in commemoration of the restoration to
life by this saint of Paolo Massimo, the eldest son of
the Prince, in 1583. The chapel is the work of
Baldassarre Peruzzi. Its feast is kept on March i6,
when the public is admitted.
For S. Philip, see Part III.
S. FEANCESCA EOMANA.— This church, also called
S. Maria Nuova, was originally known as S. Maria in
Palerna. This latter name may be a corruption of
in Palatiunt, referring either to the Palatine close by,
or to the Palladium, the relic kept in the adjacent
Temple of Vesta. At the beginning of the viii.
century the church already existed under the name of
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 231
S. Maria Antigua, and received its name of Nitova
after its restoration by Nicholas I. following a great
fire.
It was built on the site of the temple of Venus and
Rome, and remains of this, with the apse, can still be
seen in the garden at the back of the church.
In 996 Gregory V. removed to this church the
bodies of several saints. Urban II. lived in the
adjacent monastery in 1093, and his Bulls are dated
from S. Maria Nuova. On February 3, 1136, Inno-
cent II, was consecrated and ordained in the church.
Under Honorius III. it was again destroyed by fire,
and rebuilt by this pope in 1216. In 1615 a new
fa9ade was added, and the present roof, under the
direction of the OUvetan monks, to whom belonged
the annexed convent.
Like other basilicas, the presbytery is placed at a Interior.
higher level than the nave, and is reached by a double
flight of steps. The vault of the tribune is decorated
with mosaics representing the Madonna in the centre; Mosaics,
on her left, SS. Peter and Andrew ; on her right,
SS. James and John. Each stands between twisted
palm-trees. The inscription in the lower portion has
been several times mutilated by restoration. It ran :
Continet in gremio ccelum terramque regentem Sancta Dei
genetrix proceres comitantur erilem. The date of these
mosaics has been variously given as the time of
Nicholas I. 859-867; Honorius III., 1216-1227; and
Alexander III., about 1161. The latter is that given
by De Rossi.
The walls and front of the arch were originally
covered with mosaics, which were destroyed in 1615.
The pavement of the church was Alexandrine, por- Nave,
tions of which only remain, repaired unfortunately
with slabs taken from the loculi of the catacombs.
Over the high altar is a picture of the Madonna,
brought by Angelo Frangipani from Troas, on his
return from the Holy Land in the xi. century.
Beneath is the confession over the tomb of S. Fran-
232 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
cesca, with a statue of the saint attended by an angel,
by Meli.
Chapels In the II. chapel on the right, is the monument to
on Right. Cardinal Vulcani of 1322, and one to Antonio Rido,
commander of the papal forces under Nicholas V.
In the III. chapel are 3 pictures of the miracles of
S. Benedict, and an altar-piece by Subleyras.
Left. The I. chapel on the left contains a Madonna and
4 saints, by Sinibaldo Ibi.
The IV. is dedicated to blessed Bernard Tolomei.
Transept. In the transept, to the right facing the apse, is the
monument of Gregory XL, with a bas-relief, designed
by Pietro Olivieri and sculptured by Phiren, represent-
ing the return of this pope from Avignon to Rome in
1377. The tomb was erected by the Roman people in
1584, Near this, is a stone in the wall with two large
dents in it, shown as the marks of Peter's knees when
Miracle of he prayed for the fall of Simon Magus. This was one
Simon of the paving-stones of the Via Sacra, taken from the
Magus. gpQ^ close by which tradition points out as the site of
the miracle of Simon Magus, '^juxta templum Romuli."
From the year 760 until the time of Paul III. a Httle
church stood here to mark the spot. The church is
entirely destroyed, but traces of frescoes are still dis-
cernible upon the walls of the basilica of Constantine,
against which the church stood. The slab was re-
moved to the church of S. Francesca in 1375.
On the left of the apse is a marble ciborium, with
sculptures after Mino da Fiesole.
Crypt. From here a staircase leads to the crypt, where the
skeleton of S. Francesca Romana lies, exposed to
view on March 8 and 9, the latter being her feast day.
Above her tomb is a bas-relief by Bernini, which was
executed at the expense of Agata Pamfili, oblate of Tor
de' Specchi, and sister of Innocent X. Near this is the
spot where the saint's body was found buried in 1638.
The church was originally administered by a chapter.
Alexander II. however, gave it to the canons regular
of S. Frediano of Lucca in 106 1, and it was transferred
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 233
later to the canons regular of the Lateran. In 1352,
under Clement VI., it passed to its present keepers,
the Benedictines of Monte Oliveto.
The adjoining monastery possesses a picture of
Paul III. and Cardinal Pole, by Pierino del Vaga.
The bell tower of the church is of the xii. century,
and is one of the best preserved in Rome of that epoch.
Feast day. — March 9.
For S. Francesca Romana, see Part III.
S. FBANCESCO A EIPA. — This church and convent of
the Minor Observants were founded in 1229, during
the pontificate of Gregory IX., and are situated at the
extremity of Trastevere in the Piazza di S. Francesco.
S. Francis of Assisi stayed at this convent during his
sojourn in Rome, and the room he occupied was con-
verted into a chapel by Cardinal Montalto, and can be
visited ; it is reached through the sacristy. Over the Chapel
altar in this chapel is one of the three pictures ofofS.
S. Francis said to have been painted during his hfe, ^''^"'^^s-
the other two being at Subiaco and Assisi. Above it
is a copy of the head of Christ from the Scala Santa.
Here are kept relics of the Franciscan martyrs of Japan.
The rest of the convent has been converted into a
barrack by the Italian Government.
The present church was almost rebuilt, and quite
modernized in the xvii. century, by Cardinal Pallavicini,
from design? of Matteo Rossi, and is in indifferent taste.
It consists of a nave and two aisles with four chapels
on either side. In the right transept in the Pallavicini
chapel, are two monuments to members of this family.
The Albertoni, now the Altieri chapel in the left
transept contains a figure of the blessed Ludovica
Albertoni by Bernini, and an altar-piece of S. Anna
with the Madonna and Child, by Baciccio.
The church also contains a nativity by S. Vouet,
and a Pieta by Caracci worth noticing.
Feast day. — October 4.
For an account of St. Francis of Assisi, see Part III., dealing
with the religious orders.
234 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
THE GEStJ in the piazza of the same name was built
by Cardinal Farnese in 1575. It was the principal
church of the Society of Jesus, and the adjoining
building, now a barrack, was one of their chief houses,
and used to contain 145 habitable rooms. Ninety-
four priests, brothers and novitiates, lived here when
the Visitation of churches was made in 1662.
The designs for the church were entrusted to
Vignola, and after his death to Giacomo della Porta,
to whom are due the fa9ade, cupola, and the two
round chapels on either side of the main altar.
The ceihng, dome and tribune are painted by
Baciccio, and the walls are covered with marble, the
interior being among the most gorgeous in Rome.
Chapels. The round chapel on the right, dedicated to S.
Francis Zavier, was decorated from designs of Cor-
tona ; the altar piece, representing the death of the saint,
is by Maratta.
The high altar designed by della Porta, has four
columns of fine giallo antico, and an altar piece repre-
senting Christ in the Temple, by Capalti. On the
left, is the monument of Cardinal Bellarmino, designed
by Rainaldi, with allegorical figures of Religion and
Wisdom by Bernini. To the right, is the monument
of Pignatelli, General of the order, with figures of
Hope and Love.
In the left transept, is the Chapel of S. Ignatius,
magnificently decorated with lapis lazuli, verde antico
and rare marbles. The chapel was designed by Pozzi,
who also painted the altar piece.
Above is a marble group of the Trinity by B. Ludo-
visi, with an angel holding the terrestrial globe, made
entirely of lapis lazuH. The niche of the altar is also
lined with this stone, and within is a statue covered
with silver plates, of S. Ignatius in sacerdotal vest-
ments. Beneath the altar his body lies in a bronze
gilt sarcophagus. To the left, is an allegorical group
in marble of Faith crushing Idolatry, by Theodon ; to
the right. Religion trampling upon Heresy, by Le Gros.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 235
The chapel next to this is that of S. Maria della
Strada, and contains a much - venerated Madonna,
removed from a destroyed church of this name. The
chapel, designed by della Porta, was decorated with
paintings by Pozzi. The painting of S. Joseph is by
Podesti.
Feast day. — January i (Circumcision), and July 31.
December 3 1 and January i are also kept by the solemn singing
of the Te Deum, and the Veni Creator.
8. GIACOMO DEGLI SPAGNOLI.— This church was erected
in the xii. century near the stadium of Alexander
Severus, now Piazza Navona, by the Infante Henry
son of Ferdinand III. of Spain.
Its present fa9ade is on the Via della Sapienza. It
had originally 14 altars, all of which have been re-
moved, with the exception of a beautiful marble tribune
by Sansovino, and a marble chapel, the work of San
Gallo.
The Spaniards sold the church to the French con-
gregation, which still possesses it, and has restored it.
Ignatius Loyola and Joseph Calasanzio lived in the
vicinity of this church, in a hospice for Spanish pilgrims.
Feast day. — July 25.
JAMES the son of Zebedee, called the Greater, was
brother to S. John, and was one of the three disciples
chosen to be present at the transfiguration and again
in Gethsemane. The two brothers were partners in
the fishing with Peter (Luke v. 10). They were twice
rebuked (Mark x. 35 ; Luke ix. 55).
James was the first Apostle to suffer martyrdom,
and is supposed to be the only one of the twelve who
died before the transitus of Mary. His martyrdom is
recorded in Acts xii. 2. He is the patron saint of
Spain, where he is considered to have been the son of
an illustrious baron of Galilee, and not a poor fisher-
man. Hence we find him in Spanish pictures accoutred
and riding on a fine white horse.
8. GIOACCHINO is the name of the new church in the
Prati di Castello beyond the Tiber, built with the
236 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
offerings of Catholics for the Jubilee of the present
Pope. It is not yet completed.
Feast day. — The Sunday in the octave of the Assumption.
For S. Joachim, see p. 182.
S. GIOBGIO IN YELABBO is situated in the region known
as the Velabrum, the valley, at one time a marsh,
between the Capitol and the Palatine. In a xiii.
century inscription still extant on the portico, the first
instance occurs of the corruption of this name to the
popular Velum Aureum.
The church stands close to the arch of Janus and
the remnant of Tarquin's Cloaca Maxima, which was
popularly called the " Marrana di S. Giorgio."
The foundation of S. Giorgio has been attributed to
Leo II. (682), but is considerably older, this pope
only restoring an existing building, adding the name
of S. Sebastian to its original dedication.
In the V. century it was known as de Belabru* and
Gregory the Great made it a titular church, and
ordered the monks then in possession to restore it. It
was rebuilt almost from the foundations under Pope
Zacharias (741), and Pope Gregory IV. (827) decorated
the apse with mosaics and added to it two porticoes.
Boniface VIII., in 1295, made Cardinal Stefaneschi
titular of this church, and by his desire Giotto decorated
the apse with frescoes, which have all disappeared
through barbarous restorations.
The interior has nevertheless, retained its basilica
form. The nave is lined by 16 ancient columns of
marble and granite taken from pagan buildings.
The high altar of marble and the tabernacle, are
of the XIII. century. Beneath is the confession
decorated with Cosmati mosaic work. Here is pre-
served the head of S. George. A red silk banner said
to be his, is also shown on the feast day.
In the left aisle are some early Christian inscrip-
tions and a marble bas-relief. Cardinal Newman was
titular of this church. It is seldom open, except on
* De Rossi, Inscr. Christ., 878.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 237
April 23, and on the day after Ash Wednesday for the
Station.
Feast day. — April 23.
The story of a. oeoeqe came from the East in the
middle ages, and we find this saint associated with S.
Maurice and S. Sebastian, representing the ideal of
knighthood during the ages of chivalry.
S. George was a native of Cappadocia and a tribune
in the Roman army, and was martyred for his faith
during the Diocletian persecutions. His usual attri-
bute in art, that of the dragon, refers to a legend of
his having slain a dragon on his journey to Rome,
which was devouring the population of a village, S.
George arriving just as the king's daughter was being
led out as a sacrifice. S. George showed undaunted
courage and constancy during his martyrdom, which
lasted for eight days.
The particular devotion to S. George in England,
dates from the crusades of Richard I., from which time
he became her titular saint. In art he is represented
in military dress.
S. GIOVANNI DECOLLATO, or DELIA MISEEICORDIA.—
This church in the region of the Velabrum, existed under
its old name of S. Maria in Petrocia in the be-
ginning of the XIV. century. In the xv. century
some pious Florentines attached to it a society for
exhorting to penitence those condemned to death, and
for burying their bodies. From this time it took the
name of S. John the patron of the Florentines, della
Misericordia, or S. John decollato (decapitated), which
was the death suffered by the condemned.
The site was changed, and a new church erected in
1588. The funds of this congregation have been con-
fiscated by the present Government on the ground
that persons are no longer beheaded.
S. GIOVANNI DE' FIOEENTINI.— This church dedicated
to S. John Baptist, in the Via Giulia near the
Tiber, was commenced in 15 19, and was built by the
238 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Florentines and the " Company of Mercy." This con-
gregation was instituted for the burial of the dead
during the pestilence of 15 19; being reconstructed
after the plague, when their habit was changed from
black to blue. The church was built partly upon the
site of an older church of S. Pantaleo, and in the region
inhabited by Florentines in Rome, and where their
consul lived. It was designed by San so vino, drawings
for its construction by Michael Angelo being preserved
until 1720, but discarded as too expensive. It was
not completed until 1725, when Clement XII. added
the fa9ade, by Alessandro Galilei.
S. PhiHp Neri was rector of this church, and annexed
to it a house, of which the original refectory and
kitchen remain. The former still contains the table
and seats used by the first disciples of S. Philip, and
here is an inscription of Cardinal Baronius, who held
office as cook of the convent, originally written in
charcoal, and afterwards painted : " Ccesar Baronius
coquus perpetuus.'''
Here also is the pulpit from which S. Philip
preached.
In the chapel of S. Jerome in the church, the third
on the right, is an altar-piece of S. Jerome praying,
by Santi di Tito, and of S. Jerome writing by Cigoli,
who is buried in the church.
In the right transept is a picture of SS. Cosma and
Damian, by Salvator Rosa.
The high altar is designed by Pietro da Cortona ;
the vault above and the chapel of the crucifixion are
painted by Lanfranco. In the left transept is a paint-
ing of the Magdalen, by Baccio Carpi. In the fifth
chapel on the left, an altar-piece by Santi di Tito and
frescoes of Pomarancio.
Over the door into the sacristy in a niche, is a re-
cently found statue of S. John Baptist, said to be by
Donatello, hitherto hidden and forgotten in the crypt
of an old church of S. Orsola. Carlo Maderno and
many Tuscans are buried in this church.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 239
S. GIOVANNI A POETA LATINA. — This interesting little
church near the closed Porta Latina, was built by Pope
Gelasius (492-496), and rebuilt by Adrian I. in 772.
Celestine III. again reconsecrated it in 1191, and
restored it much as we now see it. Leo II. had
affiliated the church to S. Giovanni in Laterano, and
up to the XV. century it possessed a chapter under
an archpriest, at which date its goods were incorporated
with those of the Lateran. It became a titular church
from the pontificate of Leo X., and from the time of
Lucian II. (1144-1145) to that of Boniface VIII. (1294-
1303) it had a convent of Benedictine nuns attached
to it. After this date, the chapter of the Lateran gave
it to the Trinitarians, and now after many years of
abandonment, it belongs to the French Franciscan
fathers of the African mission.
The church is entered through a portico with 4
ancient columns; in the interior are 10 pillars of
various marbles dividing the nave from the aisles.
Round the door, and decorating the altar, are some
mosaics, the work of the Cosma family. In the adjacent
garden is a x. century well, which originally stood in
the atrium of the church ; around it can be read the
words of Isaiah, " Onines sitientes venite ad aquas ego
Stephanus + in nomine Pat. et Filii is}-''
Close to the church is a small circular chapel known
as S. Giovanni in Olio, which by Roman tradition, s. Gio-
is supposed to mark the spot where S. John the vanni in
Evangelist was thrown into burning oil before his ^*^°-
banishment to Patmos under Domitian. This chapel,
which contains a handsome terra-cotta frieze, was re-
built by Bramante in 1509 under JuHus II., and at the
expense of a French prelate Adam whose arms and
the motto " av plaisir de dieu " are placed upon the
architrave of the door.
Feast days.^Ma.y 6 and December 27.
It is open for the Station on the 6th Saturday in Lent.
For the account of S. John Evangelist, see p. iii.
88. GIOVANNI E PAOLO. — This interesting and ancient
240 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
titular church stands on the summit of the CoeUan
Hill. It was built in the iv. century upon the house
History of the martyrs John and Paul, by Byzantius a senator,
and his son Pammachus, a friend of S. Jerome, and
founder in 398, of the first hospital for pilgrims at
Porto.
According to usage, this church was first known
under the title of its founder, and we find it recorded
as " Titulus Bizantis " in the synod of Pope Sym-
machus, and in an inscription now in the Lateran
museum. This latter is of the date of Innocent I.
(402-417). It was also known as Titulus Pammachii.
The church was first restored by Pope Symmachus in
the V. century, and again under Adrian I. (771-795),
and Leo III. (795-810). An inscription consisting of
a pontifical diploma concerning certain gifts to the
church still exists, affixed to the wall at the end of
the right aisle. The names Constantinus and Gregory
in this inscription are probably those of Gregory VII.
and of some unknown individual of the vii. or viii.
century. '•'
Nicholas V. (1447) gave the church of Giovanni e
Paolo to the Gesuati, and when this order was sup-
pressed it passed to the Irish Dominicans, and finally
to the Passionist Fathers who still retain it.
The anonymous writers of the pilgrims' itineraries
and of the " Acts " of John and Paul, state that they
were martyred under Julian the Apostate in their own
paternal house on the Ccelian, that they were there
secretly buried, and that it was later converted into a
church, where their bodies rest " quiescant in basilica
magna.''\ Another group of martyrs, Terentianus,
Crispus, Crispinianus and Benedicta were buried beside
them later.
In the VI. and vii. centuries, the church of SS.
Giovanni e Paolo was much visited and venerated
as the resting-place of these martyrs, and the tradition
* De Rossi, Bull. Arch. Christ., 1873, p. 36.
t Salzburg Itinerary.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 241
with regard to them, and the accounts of the early
writers, have recently received remarkable confirma-
tion in the excavations undertaken by Padre Germano,
a Passionist of this convent.
These excavations have brought to light some of House of
the most interesting remains of early Christian Rome, John and
and have conclusively proved the historical value of ^^"'•
the traditions concerning these martyrs of the Coelian,
Until recently the only indication of the spot of the
martyrdom was a stone in the nave of the church, with
the inscription "Locus martyrii SS. Joannis et Pavli in
adihus propriis ;" and beneath the nave were some
whitewashed crypts, used during the last century for
purposes of burial.
Padre Germano's excavations have now laid bare Excava-
1 1 rooms of a Roman house beneath the present tions.
church, and several more remain to be unearthed.
The excavated rooms include the dining-room, kitchen
and the wine-cellar which is still filled with amphora
for wine, bearing the Christian monogram, as was
customary in the iv. century.
Some of the rooms are decorated with iv. cen-
tury paintings of a symbolic character not hitherto
found except in Christian cemeteries. The decorations
of one room, dances of cupids, etc., are of a date
anterior to the conversion of the martyrs, when the
house was doubtless under pagan proprietorship. Por-
tions of the Roman pavement have come to light ; and
large and small terra-cotta lamps, some of which have
been re-hung in situ, with various terra-cotta utensils
have been found in the rooms.
At a higher level corresponding with the second Site of
story of the house, is a small chamber recognisable as martyr-
the spot of the martyrdom of the saints, beneath which °^'
their bodies were probably hidden. This chamber
was closed at the end by a wall, in which was cut the
fenestrella confessionis, in order that the faithful could
look from the confession above upon the tomb of the
martyrs. On the walls of this chamber are frescoes Frescoes.
16
242 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Chapel.
Cruci-
fixion of
IX. cen-
tury.
Present
church.
Interior.
representing the capture and martyrdom of the saints.
In one of these, three saints kneel before the execu-
tioner. Beneath the opening or fenestrella, is a figure
of one of the saints with two figures of Christians
kissing his feet, all surrounded by roses and palms.
At the side, is the martyrdom of Crispus, Crispinianus
and Benedicta.
Close by is a small chapel with a iv, century altar
still in place, and near it a stone socket for the oil
lights.
Some of the rooms were decorated at a later period,
and in one is an interesting Crucifixion of the ix.
century. Christ is there clothed in the long tunic or
colobio. The Madonna and Mary Salome stand at
the right of the cross, S. John and the soldier holding
a spear, on the left. On the arms of the cross are
heads of angels.
Lower down on the wall to the left, is another
group, of the busts of three soldiers round a large black
garment, and the words, " Super Beste mea miserunt
sortem."
Another fresco in excellent preservation of this period
represents Christ between the archangels Michael and
Gabriel on one side, and SS. Giovanni and Paolo on
the other. Their names are written beside them.
The back of this Roman house faced the side of the
Hill of Scaurus, and this portion was left untouched
when the basilica was built upon it and still exists,
with its windows and its two stories. Upon this
side, masonry of the iv. century can be seen from
without.
The present church is approached by a xiii. cen-
tury portico of 8 antique columns. On the fa9ade
are the arms of the German Cardinal Hencourt, who
restored this, his titular church.
The interior has lost much of its antique character.
Of its 21 ancient columns only lo remain, alternated
with masonry piers, which support a modern vaulted
roof.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 243
It probably was rich in Cosmatesque work, and
in the xv. century we read* of its altar decorated
with green marble, of carved marble and stonework
in the tribune and upon the side-altars, and of a carved
marble choir in the centre of the nave.
Portions of the cosmatesque pavement still remain ;
and in this church is buried Giacomo, son of Angelo
di Niccolo, and probably father of the great Cosma.
On the right-hand side in the nave is the stone
marking the site of the martyrdom of Giovanni and
Paolo.
The aisles terminate in small apses ; the staircase Aisles,
leading to the house beneath opens into the chapel at
the end of the right aisle, that of S. Saturninus. In
the left aisle traces of frescoes of the xii. century
have been found beneath the whitewash. The vault of
the tribune is decorated with frescoes by Pomarancio,
and behind the high altar is a picture of the two
martyrs.
In the right aisle is a chapel dedicated to S. Paul of chapel of
the Cross, whose rehcs rest under the altar. It was S. Paul of
richly decorated at the expense of Prince Torlonia ; ^^® Cross,
and Cardinals Manning and Howard consecrated it in
1880. The altar-piece represents the ecstasy of the
saint, and round the cupola are depicted scenes in his
Hfe by Benefiel. The altar and walls of the chapel
are decorated with columns of Egyptian alabaster and
rare marbles.
During excavations in the adjoining orchard in 1658,
ruins of baths with leaden pipes, and fragments of
columns and various marbles, were found, belonging,
without doubt, to the house of SS. John and Paul.
The remains of the Temple of Claudius, built by Bell-
Agrippina to her husband, forms the base of the bell tower,
tower of the church ; it dates from the xiii. cen-
tury and is one of the finest in Rome. The gardens
of the convent cover the whole extent of the ancient
temple, and from them a most beautiful and interesting
• Vat. Arch. De Eccl. Urbis Julii Rosei de Horte.
16 — 2
244 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
view is obtained over the city. The exterior of the
tribune of the church is interesting from its dehcate
Gothic arches.
Feast day. — June 26. The feast of S. Paul of the Cross is also
kept in this church, when it is beautifully decorated with flowers,
on April 28.
It is opened for the Station on the ist Friday in Lent.
JOHN AMD PAUL wcrc two Christian gentlemen, officers
in the service of Constantia daughter of Constantine,
who were put to death, as we have seen under JuUan
the Apostate in 362, the same year as the Roman
martyr Bibiana ; being both martyred and buried in
their own house on the Coehan Hill, for fear of the
Christian populace. This is why they are the only
martyrs buried within the city. In art they are repre-
sented in the dress of Roman soldiers, bearing a sword
and a palm.
S. OIBOLAMO DELIA CABIXA, near Palazzo Farnese,
according to an ancient tradition occupies the site of
the celebrated Paula's house, where Jerome often
stayed. No church dedicated to S. Jerome is found in
the most ancient catalogues, and Signor Armellini con-
jectures that he was not popular with the Romans on
account of his austerity.
The Minor Observants here until 1536, were then
transferred to the church of S. Bartolomeo, on the
island. Clement VII. then conceded it to a company of
noble foreigners instituted by himself, occupied in works
of charity, and who gave to it the name of delta carita.
S. Philip Neri lived in the annexed house for thirty -
three years, and there " entertained in holy converse "
S. Ignatius and S. Carlo Borromeo. The church was
rebuilt in 1600 under Pius IV.
Over the high altar is a copy of Domenichino's Com-
munion of S. Jerome, formerly in this church.
In the entrance to the sacristy are some good
marble monuments, and over the door an inscription
stating that here S. Philip began his oratory. For
S. Jerome, see Part III. of this Handbook.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 245
S. OBEGOBIO, on the Coelian Hill, was built according History.
to tradition, upon the site of the paternal house of
Gregory the Great (590-604) who gave it up during
his own lifetime that a monastery might be built, which
he dedicated to S. Andrew the Apostle, in whose honour
he also erected a church. From here it was that he
sent Augustine to England, and here also were educated
many English priests.
In the atrium of Gregory's monastery were paint-
ings described by Johannes Diaconus,* and repre-
senting Peter sitting on a throne, holding the father
of Gregory by the hand, and his mother S. Sylvia,
sitting with an open book on her knee. In an apse
was a portrait of Gregory himself wearing the square
nimbus. John the Deacon dwells upon the beauty of
Sylvia, although advanced in years.
After the death of S. Gregory, the monastery fell
into disuse until the time of Gregory II. (715-731),
who again reopened it, and built another phurch on
the spot in honour of his great predecessor. In the
Turin Codex we learn that an abbot and 4 monks
inhabited the house in the xiv. century, which was
then called SS. Gregory and Andrew.
By a Brief of Gregory XIII., the monastery was
given to the Camaldolese monks in 1573, and it is still
the residence of the general of the order.
In the year 1633, the church of Gregory II. was
restored by Cardinal Scipio Borghese ; and the fa9ade
and atrium added later from the designs of Ferrari,
entirely changed its original character. It was again
completely renewed in 1725,
The atrium of the church, decorated with Ionic Atrium,
columns is now approached by a fine flight of steps.
It contains some interesting monuments. That to the
right on entering, is to Edward Carne an English-
man, Doctor of Civil Law of Oxford, ambassador to
Charles V., and afterwards envoy to the court of
Rome. In 1530 he served on the commission with
• Jo. Diac, Vita S. Greg., I., ch. vi.
246 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Interior.
Chapel
ofS.
Gregory.
Room
of S.
Gregory.
Cranmer, formed to obtain the views of foreigners
upon Henry VIII.'s divorce. He was recalled from
Rome when Elizabeth suppressed the English em-
bassy there, but remained in the city, and there died
in 1561.
Under the colonnade nearest the church doors is a
marble monument to Anthony and Michael Bonsius,
Florentines, of the xv. century, with their busts
above ; on the left-hand side a tomb of the Guidic-
cioni family of 1643, with sculptures of the xv.
century.
In the portico are frescoes of Pomarancio represent-
ing scenes in S. Gregory's life, and some paintings
removed from the older church. On piers in the atrium
are two modern inscriptions relating to the history of
the church.
The interior has retained little of its basiHca form.
The 16 ancient columns have been strengthened by
masonry pilasters, which support the domed roof
painted by Costanzi.
The pavement is Alexandrine, and in good preserva-
tion.
The chapel at the extremity of the right aisle is that
of S. Gregory. The altar-piece of the saint is by Sacchi,
and the predella beneath, representing S. Michael in an
oval, with the apostles, S. Sebastian and S. Antony,
is by Signorelli. The bas-rehefs on the marble altar,
which are of the xv. century, represent Gregory loosing
souls from purgatory by his prayers. S. Sebastian is
introduced in this relief.
Close by, is the entrance into a tiny room, said to
have been preserved from the house of Gregory, con-
taining a fenestrella with relics, and decorated with
mosaic-work. Here is shown a recess where Gregory
is said to have slept, and his marble chair.
At the high altar is a picture of the Madonna with
SS. Gregory and Andrew in glory, by Balestra.
At the extremity of the left aisle is a bronze bust of
Gregory XVI., abbot of the monastery before his
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 247
election as pope, and a monument to Cardinal Zurla,
his successor as head of the order.
Here is the entrance to the Salviati chapel, built Salviati
by Cardinal Salviati from the designs of Volterra and Chapel.
Carlo Maderno. This chapel contains a copy of
Sacchi's picture of Gregory, taken from here during
the French invasion, and now in England. To the
left is a marble bas-relief of 1469, spoilt by gilding,
representing the procession instituted by Gregory, and
the apparition of Michael the archangel on the Castel
S. Angelo. To the right is a famous Madonna, which
is supposed to have spoken to S. Gregory.
A door to the left leads into the garden, in which
can be seen ruins of the Servian wall. In this garden
are three little chapels opening onto a single colonnade,
and erected by Cardinal Baronius.
That in the centre is dedicated to S. Andrew, and Chapel
stands upon the site of the original church with this °J ^•
dedication built by S. Gregory, burnt down in the
fires of Robert Guiscard, and rebuilt by Paschal II.
(1099-1118), and in which it is said were buried
Sylvia mother of Gregory, and his aunts Tarzilla and
Emiliana. The walls are decorated with two famous
frescoes which were painted as rival works by Guido
Reni and Domenichino, master and pupil. That of
Domenichino on the right wall, represents the flagella-
tion of Andrew ; that on the left, Andrew adoring his
cross on the way to his martyrdom. The portrait of
Guido is introduced in the turbaned figure, and that
of Beatrice Cenci in one of the women to the left.
It is related of Domenichino that he worked himself
up to a state of violent anger while painting the
executioners. Over the altar is a fresco in oils, by
RoncaUi, of the Madonna with SS. Andrew and
Gregory.
The chapel to the right contains a statue of S. Sylvia Chapel of
by Cordieri, and in the tribune above, the Eternal ^ Sylvia.
Father, with angels playing musical instruments, by
Guido Reni.
248 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Sylvia.
Chapel
of S.
Barbara.
Gregory.
8. SYLVIA was the mother of Gregory the Great,
and a woman of rare endowments. She enriched the
Benedictine monastery at Subiaco with many gifts
(bona), conferring on it also the Castrum Apollonium.
Feast day. — November 5.
The chapel to the left, dedicated to S. Barbara,
contains a very fine sitting statue of Gregory placed
here by Baronius ; begun by Michael Angelo, and
finished by Cordieri. In the centre is the antique
marble table at which it is said Gregory sat every
day with twelve poor men whom he served himself.
One day an angel appeared and sat among them.
This legend is recorded in an inscription in verse, and
represented in a fresco upon the wall by Caracci. It
has hence been the custom for the pope to serve with
his own hands thirteen poor pilgrims on Holy Thursday,
a custom abandoned in 1870.
For S. Barbara, see p. ig8.
Excavations are now going forward upon the Ccelian
Hill, which may throw more light upon the history of
the church of S. Gregorio.
Feast day. — March 12.
The Station at this church is on the ist Friday in Lent.
s. 0RE8ORY THE GREAT is the ktcst of the 8 Fathers
of the Church. Born in Rome, of Roman parents,
S. Sylvia and Gordian, " the noblest of the Senate
and the most pious of the Church of Rome,"* in a.d.
540, he was taught by his mother, became celebrated
as a lawyer, and was Praetor of the city. When his
father died he converted his paternal house into a
monastery and his wealth to charitable purposes and in
a dreadful plague which depopulated the city he fear-
lessly tended the stricken and poor.
He was called on by acclamation of the people, as
Ambrose had been in Milan, to succeed Pope Pelagius.f
* Gibbon, Rise and Fall, ch. xlv.
t He had previously been created a levite or deacon of the
city. " Diaconus septimus creatus est " (Johannes Diaconus in
Vita Gregorii Magni).
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 249
As one of the Fathers, he helped rather to form the
morals than the intellect of Christians. In Rome he In Rome,
gave his attention to the needy and suffering, con-
sidering that he was personally responsible for every
soul under his charge. He corrected the manners of
the clergy, and advocated their celibacy. He made
the last alterations in the arrangement of the mass,
and instituted the singing ever since known as ' Gre-
gorian.' He understood the salutary power of beautiful
ceremonial to soothe and touch and heal, but also to
educate and civilize, and he made the utmost use of
the capacities of the Christian Church in this direction ;
living as he did among a rude and afflicted population,
to which his own moral elevation was vastly superior.
Hearing that a beggar had died of hunger in the
streets of Rome, he imposed on himself a sentence of
penance and excommunication, and did not say mass
for several days.
Out of Rome, he upheld the dignity of the Roman Out of
Church, which he calls " the head of the Faith," Rome.
" placed over all churches by the authority of God."
Himself he calls the Pilot of the Ship, the Church.*
He recognised the Patriarchate of Constantinople:!
the connection of Rome with the patriarchates was,
naturally, not so close as its relation to the Western
sees ; it was mainly confined to cases of appeal. But
to John of Syracuse, in his ixth Epistle, he says :
" Concerning what they say about the Church of
Constantinople, who doubts that it is subject to the
Apostolic See ?"J
He was a fervent missioner — he is also the only
Roman missioner we know of — but resisted the perse-
cuting spirit. To him is due the conversion of
England at the beginning of the vii. century ; a
mission he had desired to personally accomplish.
The earliest and fullest biographies of Gregory have The bio-
graphies
* Epistles iii., vii., xiii. of
+ See Patriarchates in Part IV. Gregory.
I See also the letter to the Bishop of Alexandria.
250 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
His doc-
trine of
purgatory
His
charity.
Subjects
in art.
The judg-
ment of
Trajan.
been traced by Herr Ewald to England. The Life
found at S. Gallen by Canisius and by him pronounced
to be of no value, is in fact the English Life.'' Ten
of its thirty-two chapters are devoted to England,
with a digression about the affairs of Northumbria.
Gregory is called "noster Gregorius," " Magister," and
" Apostolicus noster." Paulinus is " Doctor noster,"
and Edwin is " Rex noster." The stories of the Pope's
words " non angli sed angeli," and Deira, De ird, here
narrated, have therefore an English origin, and were
first told in England. The Life compiled by Johannes
Diaconus at the instance of John VIIL, about a.d. 752,
more than once refers to the Saxon Lives : and the
pope wished a Roman Life to be written, because
while the Saxons and Lombards! possessed lives of
Gregory, his own church possessed none.
S. Gregory insisted on the doctrine of purgatory,
where souls suffered in order to acquire, and where
many whom others thought lost, would be purified.
His charity was boundless. Thousands were daily
fed by him ; and a beautiful legend tells us that one
day when he was feeding the twelve poor men who
daily dined at his board, a thirteenth appeared, who
was Christ Himself. This subject ; the miracle of the
brandeum represented in S. Peter's ; Gregory releasing
souls from purgatory by his prayers ; the appearance of
Michael during the Great Procession in the plague of
Rome ; Gregory sending Augustine to England ; and
Gregory seeing the Anglo-Saxons in the market-place
of Rome, have all been represented in art. The pope
is represented in cope and tiara, with a dove at his
ear, emblematic of the Holy Spirit inspiring him.
It is recorded of Gregory that reading one day the
story of the Emperor Trajan's justice, he wept bitterly
to think that such a soul should be lost. The story is
that Trajan left the head of his legions when hastening
* Current in the ix. century.
+ A collection of Gregory's Letters bears the name of Paulus
Diaconus, the historian of the Lombards.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 251
to battle, at the cry of a poor woman who called on
him to do her justice ; for her son had been killed by
the emperor's son, and Trajan delivered his own son
to her in his' stead. Moved at this great act of justice,
Gregory entered a church and prayed for Trajan's
soul, and received an answer that his prayer was
heard. But Gregory endured ever after great bodily
infirmity, having chosen this in exchange for the gift
of the emperor's soul, in preference to enduring
purgatory. The 3 Judgments hence often appear in
art : the Judgment of Solomon, of Daniel, and of
Trajan.
Gregory died a.d. 604, after thirteen and a half
years' pontificate. He lived in a credulous age, and
was himself credulous. He had no wide or profound
knowledge ; but while he was the enemy of such
attainments, he was the friend of every sentiment and
instinct which can elevate human nature.
No contemporary has left such copious writings. Gregory's
The Liber Moralium is the greatest work. Modern writings,
editions of his Letters give 850. He left also 40
Homilies on the Gospels, 2 Books of Homilies on
Ezekiel, a commentary on the First Book of Kings,
an Exposition of Canticles, of the 7 Penitential
Psalms, writings on the Heptateuch, Prophets,
Proverbs, the morals • of Job, a Pastoral Rule, an
Antiphonary.
8. GIUSEPPE DE' FALEGNAMI is the name of the church
over the Mamertine prisons. It was restored at the
expense of Maria Anna Ludovisi, nun at the convent
of Tor de' Specchi, and contains a picture of the
Nativity, by Maratta. Annexed to it, is an oratory
of the guild of carpenters, upon the altar of which are
4 fine columns of jasper.
8. JOSEPH. — During the first 1600 years of the church's
history, S. Joseph, the spouse of Mary, was never placed
prominently before the people. The spirit of the earUest
art represented him in subordinate positions, leading
252 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the donkey into Egypt, or standing by while the shep-
herds pay their homage.
The saint most venerated was S. John Baptist, on
account of Christ's words concerning him.
S. Joseph is, then, not named in any ancient Hturgy,
nor was his name inserted in the martyrologies of East
or West till the ix. century. No mediaeval church
is dedicated to him, nor does his name ever occur in
the inscriptions on bells. He is never mentioned by
that singer of the saints, Dante.
But from the pontificate of Gregory XV. (1621) the
devotion to S. Joseph began to grow. S. Theresa had
dedicated her convent to him 60 years earlier, and
since 1815 especially the prominence of S. Joseph as a
saint has been gradually increasing to what it now is.
In 1847 Pius IX. extended his feast to the whole
church, and in 1871 the same pope placed all the
faithful " under his patronage." He is called the
Patriarch Joseph, and Patron of the Catholic Church.
The image of S. Joseph does not occur among those
placed on the ikonostasis in the East. Yet the earliest
feast of his name was perhaps kept by the monophysite
Copts of Egypt ; and near Memphis they have an
ancient church in memory of the abode there of Jesus,
Mary and Joseph, which event is probably the cause
of their cult for the Lord's foster-father. Early Irish
invocation of this saint is mentioned in Bishop Healy's
" Insula Sanctorum."
S. Joseph is of course the Patron of carpenters ;
a church in Rome is dedicated to " S. Joseph of the
Carpenters," and he was Patron of the Guild of
Carpenters at Liege and at Ghent.
In churches now we frequently see representa-
tions of Joseph with Jesus in his arms — a piece of
modern realism which misses both the theological and
mystical significance of the " Madonna and Child," and
possesses neither its human nor divine beauty.
The feast day of S. Joseph is March 19, and the feast
of his Patronage falls on the 3rd Sunday after Easter.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 253
He is represented old, or at least, white-haired, and
in modern pictures carries a lily, the symbol of purity,
in his hand,
S. I6NAZI0, the church of the Jesuits, adjoins the
Collegio Romano. It was built at the expense of
Cardinal Ludovisio Ludovisi in 1626. It was finished
after his death by money left for the purpose in his
will. The cupola was never finished, and is now
replaced by the observatory of the Collegio Romano.
The church was designed by Domenichino, but the
designs were much modified by Padre Grassi the
Jesuit. It is huge and uninteresting. The heavy
travertine fagade is by Algardi. The nave is divided
from the aisles by 6 heavy pilasters encased in white
stucco.
The chapel in the left transept is dedicated to Louis Chapel of
Gonzaga, whose remains rest in an urn of lapis S- Louis
lazuli under the altar. This chapel was designed ^°^^^S^-
by Padre Pozzi, and erected at the expense of the
Lancellotti family. Above the altar is a marble group
of the saint among angels by Le Gros.
At the end of the right aisle is the monument of
Gregory XV. by Le Gros, and beneath, the tomb of
Cardinal Ludovisi.
The paintings in the tribune are also by Padre
Pozzi : in the vault of the tribune, the triumph of
Louis Gonzaga in heaven ; below, scenes in the life
of S. Ignatius.
In the chapel in the left transept is a marble bas-
relief of the Annunciation by Filippo Valle, and
beneath the altar, the tomb of S. John Berchmans.
A huge statue of S. Ignatius stands in the chapel
at the end of the right aisle.
Feast day.— July 31.
For S. Ignatius, see Part III., treating of Religious Congrega-
tions.
S. ISIDOBO. — This church at the summit of Capo le
Case, and commanding a fine view over Rome, owes its
origin to the canonization of five saints by Gregory XV.
254 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
in 1622, among them the Spanish S. Isidore. In this
year a company of Spanish reformed Franciscans
came to Rome and built the present church and
convent. The Spanish friars left after two years,
and the convent passed to Friar Luke Wadding and
the Irish Franciscans who still remain.
The beautiful gardens of the convent have been
sadly curtailed by the formation of the new Ludovisi
quarter. The church which is reached through the
Via degli Artisti, is approached by a double flight
of steps and a picturesque portico. It contains many
paintings by Maratta.
In the first chapel to the right are paintings of S.
Joseph by this artist ; close by is the tomb of Luke
Wadding first prior of the convent, ob. 1657. At
the high altar are two columns of Oriental alabaster
and a painting of S. Isidore by Sacchi.
In the left transept are monuments to Miss Brian
an English lady, by Gajassi, and to Amelia, daughter
of John Curran.
In the right transept is an Annunciation by Maratta.
A Crucifixion by the same painter is kept in the
sacristy. The Piombino chapel, the first on the left,
is also painted by him.
The library of the adjoining convent possesses
some Irish MSS. of interest.
On the fa9ade of the church are two statues of S.
Isidoro and S. Patrick. S. Patrick and S. Bridget are
frescoed in the portico, with Irish inscriptions.
Feast day. — The feast day of S. Patrick is kept at this church,
March 17 ; of S. Isidoro, May 15.
8. ISIDORO, AGRicoLA, is the patroH of Madrid, and also
of those who cultivate the soil. He was a plough-
man, and could neither write nor read. He was hired
to a hard master who constantly blamed him for his
sanctity and his charities. One day, says the legend,
his master going into the fields to seek him, that he
might find some fault with him, beheld him praying,
while two angels drove the plough.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 255
In art S. Isidoro is represented as a ploughman
with a spade, two angels ploughing in the background.
S. LORENZO IN DAMASO. — This celebrated church,
the ancient basilica Laurentiana, was erected near the
theatre of Pompey by Pope Damasus (366-384) in
honour of the great martyr Laurence. It is one of the
2 basilicas attributed to him by the Liber Pontificalis. History.
Until the viii. century the Damasian inscription
could be read round the semicircle of the apse, and here
were kept the archives of the Roman Church until
they were transferred to the Lateran. Another ancient
name for this basilica was in prasino. The Damasian
basiUca faced towards the Via del Pellegrino, and was
entered by a double portico. Its nave was divided
from the aisles by rows of columns, but by a peculiar
construction, planned by Damasus and referred to by
him, the rectangular transept instead of being placed
before the apse, was placed behind it, forming an addi-
tional portico. Thus the central nave had porticoes on
all its sides, and it was in these that the archives were
kept.
The basilica was restored by Adrian I. (771) and
Leo III. (795). In the middle ages it enjoyed many
privileges. By a Bull of Urban III. of 1186, 66
churches were placed under its jurisdiction. It also
enjoyed until the end of the last century, the privilege
of the font, being declared matrice, the parishioners
of all the subject parishes being obliged to go to S.
Lorenzo for baptism. In 1617 the parish consisted of
3,410 souls. In 1660''' S. Lorenzo had 21 affiliated
parishes. It was the titular church of a cardinal priest,
and was chapteral. This interesting basilica was unfor-
tunately pulled down, and the present church was built
at some Uttle distance from it, and within the Cancelleria
palace, by Cardinal Riario, in i486. It has again
been restored quite recently. During the French oc-
cupation it was used as a court of justice, and the
* Vat. Arch., Stato temp, delle Chiese, ii., p. 254.
Chapels
on right.
II.
III.
High
altar.
Damasus.
256 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
chapter was transferred to S. Andrea della Valle, but
was reinstated by Pius VII. The church of the xv.
century was designed by Bramante, and was restored
under Pius VII. by Valadier. The frescoes upon the
walls of the nave, by Cav. d' Arpino, representing the
life of S. Laurence, have been restored and repainted.
The tribune was raised by Cardinal Barberini, and
was designed by Bernini,
In the first chapel on the right is a painting by
Conca. A large chapel enclosed with glass, which is
the winter choir of the canons, contained the crucifix
which spoke to S. Bridget, now in S. Paolo Fuori.
In this chapel is an altar-piece of a dead Christ, by
Bracci, and some sepulchral monuments. The chapel
next to if was originally painted by Pietro da Cortona,
and contained an ancient picture of the Madonna.
The picture of the high altar is by Zucchero.
The church contains the sepulchral monuments
of some of the Massimo family ; of Pellegrino Rossi,
minister of Pius IX., who was murdered in 1849 ; of
Annibale Caro, the poet, 1566 ; and of General Ceprara,
captain of the Papal forces under Pius VI. There is
a chapel of S. Carlo Borromeo in the sacristy, with his
statue by Stefano Maderno.
Feast day.— The feast day of S. Lorenzo, August 10, is kept in
this church ; that of Damasus, December 11.
The Station is on the 4th Tuesday in Lent.
DAMAsuB, who succceded Liberius October i, a.d.
366, has left many traces of himself in the eternal city,
and has been called " the Pope of the Martyrs and
of the Catacombs." The pontificate of Damasus
lasted 18 years. According to Gregorovius he was a
Portuguese, and related to the Spanish Laurence. He
was a scholar and student, and to him is due the foun-
dation of the first Christian library, on the present
site called after him S. Lorenzo in Damaso. The
story of his election is not edifying : Jerome admits
that most cruel massacres (interfectiones) of both
sexes were perpetrated. Two presbyters of the party
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 257
of his rival Ursicinius, declare that Damasus marched
at the head of the clergy and fossors, with the charioteers
and hired gladiators, to do battle. But it is not neces-
sary to believe this. His pagan friend the Prefect
Vettius Agorius, had to intervene, and establish Da-
masus in the episcopate. The exceeding luxury of
the bishop and clergy of Rome, which made the
papacy so desirable, was excused on the ground of
the importance of the city. And this was 100 years
after the sufferings of the deacon Laurence, and only
50 years after the last persecution of the Church !
At that day the Pope of Rome, Damasus, is called
by his contemporaries, " the ladies' ear-scratcher ";
the gifts of matrons being the chief source of the
popes' wealth in the iv. century ! Corruptio optimi
pessima. There is nothing worse than the corruption
of a good thing. The pagan Ammianus Marcellinus
speaks of the splendour of the capital, and does not
wonder at men's thirst to be elected its bishop. He
compares the Bishop of Rome with " the exemplary
life of some provincial bishops," their mean dress, and
humility, their " pure and modest virtue." At about
the same period Gregory Nazianzen derided the pride
and luxury of theEastern prelates, and averred that the
crowd gave way to their gilt car and dashing steeds as
to a wild beast. In spite of all the. adverse criticism
of the character of Damasus, De Rossi has done much
to uphold his excellence and real greatness, the great-
ness of " un vero erudito." For other references to
Damasus, see Catacomb of Callistus, p. 127, and 5. Maria
Maggiore, p. 135. He died December 11, 384, in the
reign of Valentinian II.
S. LOBENZO IN LTJCINA is one of the very interesting
Roman churches, since, though its precise origin is not
known, it was doubtless a site in possession of one of
the Lucinas, perhaps the Domus of a Lucina of the
III. century, and a resort of the faithful. Gregorovius
dates it before Honorius (395). The clergy and people
of Rome are said to have met on the death of Liberius
17
258 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Inside.
Poussin's
tomb.
Guide's
Cruci-
fixion.
in the titulus Lucina to elect Damasus (a.d. 366)/'' and
it was called the Title of Lucina in 499, its titular
subscribing to the Synod of Symmachus. By the
VI. century there was a Station indicated for this
basilica.
Of the basilica form nothing remains but the front,
with its portico sustained by 6 Ionic columns. Two
mediaeval lions are almost walled up in the doorway, f
and are a great resource to the poor children of the
Piazza. An inscription of the same period, of the
antipope Anacletus II. (1130 a.d.) appears here also.
This interesting church has been the victim of restora-
tion. About A.D. 685 it was restored by Benedict II. ;
then in 780 by Adrian ; and in 1196 by Celestine III.,
who reconsecrated it. Long inscriptions within record
these alterations, and the relics possessed by the
church. But the entire renewal administered to it
in the xvii. century has been its coup de grace.
The nave is flanked by 5 wide chapels on either side,
which lead into one another. The second chapel on
the right, contains the miraculous Madonna of Good
Counsel (Buon Consiglio). On the second pier to the
right is the tomb of Nicholas Poussin, erected by
Chateaubriand when French ambassador at Rome.
The bas-relief represents Poussin's well-known land-
scape, the Discovery of the Tomb of Sappho in Arcadia.
The fourth, is a handsome chapel of red and black
marble. The High Altar is under a baldacchino with
black marble pillars, designed by Rainaldi ; and here
is Guido Reni's famous painting of the. Crucifixion. On
the left, the fourth chapel has 3 pictures by Marco
Benefiel, of S. Francis and Franciscan saints. The
second is a rich little chapel, with a crucifixion of
Peter. On this side, as we enter, is Celestine's inscrip-
tion, the Archbishop of York's name heading the list
of prelates present at the reconsecration of the church.
* Others say it was founded by Sixtus III. (432).
1 Stone lions, sometimes with a man in their mouths, are often
found in the porches of Lombard churches. See also p. 398.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 259
Paul V. gave it to the regular clerics minor, who re-
stored it in 1650, as we now see it ; it is now possessed
by the Franciscans, and is a parish church. It is also
the first presbyteral title of the city. Among its reUcs
is the craticiila on which it is believed S. Lorenzo
suffered ; but as will be seen, and as is noted by Signor
Armelhni, it is of very small proportions. Here also
are the relics of the Lucina of the iii. century who
buried Sebastian, which are exposed on her feast
day.
Feast days. — S. Lorenzo, August 10 ; S. Lucina, July 7.
The Station on the 4th Friday in Lent.
During excavations made here in 1872, some viii. Discovery
century tombs were found belonging to the exhedra of inscrip-
and portico of the church. One of the time of Adrian t^°"-
(783) was to a deacon Paul ; the fragment of a Damasine
inscription was found at the same time.
S. LOBENZO IN MIEANDA, in the Forum Romanum,
is built within the cella of the Temple of Antoninus
and Faustina, whose portico forms that of the church.
It is possibly connected with the life of S. Laurence,
as its dedication would suggest, and it was perhaps
erected upon the site of his trial, as the town Pre-
fecture, where many martyrs were tried and con-
demned, is said to have been close to this spot.
The church dates probably from the vi. or vii.
century, though it has been entirely altered and
its original form lost, and it now contains little of
interest.
The name " Miranda" is probably that of some bene-
factress in the middle ages, and is not due to the
wonders of the Forum, as has been ignorantly sup-
posed.
The church possessed a chapter and a monastery ;
the former was suppressed by Martin V. in 1430, and
the church was given to the Guild of Apothecaries,
who founded a hospice for the youths of their guild,
and built several small chapels among the pillars of
the portico ; these were destroyed during the prepara-
17 — 2
26o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME ^
tions for Charles V.'s visit to Rome. The church
was rebuilt in 1602 from Torriani's designs. It con-
tains an altar-piece of the martyrdom of Laurence by
Pietro da Cortona, and a picture in the first chapel on
the left by Domenichino.
S. LOEENZO IN PANISPEENA, OS IN FOEMOSA. — This
church on the Viminal Hill is built, according to
tradition,* upon the spot of Laurence's martyrdom,
and is mentioned in the ' Acts ' of the saint, and is
described by Gregory of Tours. It certainly originated
in the first years of the Peace of the church, and was
later, one of the privileged abbeys of Rome.
Boniface VIII. restored it in 1300, and Leo X.
made it a titular church. In 1575 it was almost
rebuilt by Guglielmo Sirleto, its titular cardinal.
Cardinal Colonna again rebuilt it, and established a
convent of nuns of the Clarisse order in the adjacent
house.
The origin of its name is obscure. It was called in
Formosa in the ix. century. It is first mentioned under
the name of Panisperna in a xiv. century inscription
preserved in Galetti's schedule in the Vatican Library.!
The name may have been derived from a Roman
family Perpenna, and an inscription to a member of
this family existed in the church.
A subterranean chapel, entered from an outside
door on the right-hand side of the church, is said to
mark the spot of S. Laurence's martyrdom and death.
Here a record of its consecration in 1383 is affixed to
the wall.
It is narrated in a Bull of Boniface IX. (1389- 1404)
that S. Bridget used to come daily to beg at the ad-
joining convent ; a chapel (the second to the left in
the church) is dedicated to her, and here her body
was originally laid. The body of S. Victoria in a glass
case is now beneath the altar of this chapel. Mem-
bers of the Orsini and Colonna families are buried in
* Anon, de Mabillon, and Johannes Diaconus, de F.ccl LaUran,
t Miscell. 0., vii., p. 178.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 261
the church. Here Leo XIII. was consecrated bishop
in 1843, on February ig.
It is opened for the Station on the 2nd Thursday in Lent.
For S. Lorenzo, see p. 148.
S. LUIGI DEI FKANCESI. — The French nation pos-
sessed a small chapel and hospital for the infirm and
poor, in the time of Sixtus IV. (1447). The present
church was built with funds given by Catherine de
Medicis in 1589, and was a parish church and the
headquarters of the Guild of Doctors. It stands in
the piazza of the same name, and is the national
church of the French.
It is dedicated to the Virgin, and to S. Louis and
S. Denis of France. The fa9ade is of travertine,
designed by Giacomo della Porta. It has a nave
lined with heavy pilasters, and 2 aisles with 10 side-
chapels.
The second on the right, of S. Cecilia, contains chapels
frescoes of her life by Domenichino. Right.
The fourth on the right contains a fresco by Siccio-
lante of the baptism of Clovis, and Guido's copy of
Raphael's S. CeciUa.
At the high altar is an Assumption, by Bassano.
On the left of the altar, the chapel of S. Matthew
contains three paintings of the Apostle by Caravaggio,
and frescoes on the roof by D' Arpino.
The chapel of S. Louis was designed and painted
by Plautilla Bricci, a Roman woman.
In the first chapel on the left are monuments to Left.
Guerin and Sigalon the painters, and to Pauline de
Montmorin, the latter erected by Chateaubriand.
Seroux d'Agincourt, and several French cardinals are
buried in this church, and monuments have been
erected to Claude Lorraine and to the French soldiers
killed in 1849 during the campaign in Italy.
Feast day. — August 25.
B. wms (LOUIS EC. OP FRANCE) was bom in 12 15. His
mother who governed his kingdom during his minority,
was his sole instructor till he reached the age of
262 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
twelve. He belonged to the third order of S. Francis,
and was canonized by Boniface VIII. in 1297. The
relics of S. Louis were deposited in the church of
S. Denis in Paris, but were destroyed during the
French Revolution.
In art S. Louis holds in one hand a crown of thorns ;
the sword and sceptre lie at his feet. In French
pictures he is beardless.
SS. MAECELLINO E PIETRO, in the Via Merulana. —
From fragments of inscriptions found in a little con-
fession under this church, it appears that it dates from
thetime of Pope Siricius (384-399), although the Liber
Pontificalis states that it was built by Gregory III.
(731-741)-
It is probable that the original church was at a
much lower level, and that the present apse belonged
to some side-oratory, as ruins of a larger church were
found in the adjacent garden.
The church is mentioned in 590, and was restored
by Alexander IV. in 1256, whose work is recorded in
an inscription, which states that the relics of S. Cris-
tina were deposited with others under the altar.
It was again restored by Paul IV. (1555) and by
Benedict XIV. (1740), who was its titular cardinal.
In 1707 the church was given to the Maronite
monks of S. Antonio of Lebanon. At this time it
possessed a chapter of 4 canons. The monks w'ere
removed later to S. Pietro in Vincoli, and the convent
was given to the Theresian -nuns of S. Lucia dei
Ginnasi.
Feast day. — June 2.
The Station on the 3rd Saturday in Lent.
PETEK the Exorcist and marcellihus the Presbyter
were two martyrs of the year 304. Lucilla buried
them in the catacomb of their name, and Damasus
celebrated them with a carmen.
8. HABCELLO in the Corso is one of the ancient titular
churches of Rome, and dates from the iv. century.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 263
The fa9ade of the original church faced the opposite
way to the present one. According to a tradition,
which is referred to in the Liber Pontificalis, this
church stands upon the site of the house of Lucina,
given by her to Pope Marcellus.
Gregory IV. {827) and Stephen V. (816) both enriched
it, and it was rebuilt by Adrian I. in the viii. century.
Till 1369 it was governed by a college of canons, at
which date it was given to the order of the " Servi di
Maria."
In 15 19 it was entirely rebuilt from Sansovino's
designs, the fa9ade by Fontana being added in the
last century. It was again restored as we now see it
in 1867.
The annexed convent was built in 1666 on the site
of an older building.
During the restorations of the last century an in-
scription upon lead was found under the high altar,
stating that the body of Pope Marcellus, with those of
other martyrs, lay there :
Corpus Be
ati Marcelli
PPet M
Largi . et . Sm
raldi . m
et aliorum.
The inscription is of the x. or xii. century, and is
in accordance with the tradition that Pope Marcellus
and Lucina transferred the bodies of these martyrs
from the Via Salaria to the Via Ostia.
The present church has a single nave, with 5 chapels
on either side, and a flat wooden roof.
It is decorated with modern frescoes, the whole of
the wall over the entrance being covered by an immense
painting of the Crucifixion.
On the right, in the third chapel, is a monument to chapels.
Cardinal Weld, titular of the church. In the next Right,
chapel Cardinal Consalvi, minister of Pius VII., was
buried. This chapel is decorated by Pierino del Vaga.
cellus.
i64 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The creation of Eve with SS. Mark and John, are his
work ; Matthew and Luke are by Daniele da Volterra ;
the crucifix, from del Vaga's drawings, was painted by
Garzi.
The paintings in the tribune are by G. B. da
No vara.
Left. In the fourth chapel on the left is a painting of the
conversion of S. Paul, by Federigo Zucchero. On
the walls are frescoes by his brother Taddeo,
The second chapel on this side is also decorated by
F. Zucchero.
Among the illustrious persons buried in this church
are Domenico degU AstalH, ob. 1414, vicar of King
Ladislaus, and many members of the great families of
the Frangipani, the Normanni, and the Depersona.*
Feast day. — January 16.
The Station is on the 6th Wednesday in Lent.
Mar- MARCELLus, a Roman, filled the Holy See for 2 or 5
years, during the reigns of the Emperors Constantius
and Galerius to that of Maxentius, namely from 304 or
8 to 309 or 10.
He created in the city 25 tituli we learn from
the Liber PontificaHs, for the baptism and penance
of those received as Christians from the Gen-
tiles, and for the burial of the martyrs. Maxentius,
enraged at this, menaced him with torments if he did ,
not renounce his pontificate and consent to worship
idols. Upon Marcellus' refusal, he was sent by
Maxentius to tend beasts ; and thus he spent nine
months, fasting and praying, and visiting his people
per epistolas (by letter). Finally delivered by his clerks,
he was received into the house of Lucina, which he
dedicated as a church. Hearing this, Maxentius trans-
ferred the herds of cattle to the church, and forced
Marcellus to tend them. Here he died, worn out by
the life imposed upon him, and was buried by Lucina
in the catacomb of S. Priscilla.
He wrote an epistle to the Bishop of Antioch con-
* Adinolfo, Roma nelV eta di Mezzo, ii. 282.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 265
cerning the Roman Church, which he styles the "head
of churches."
S. MABCO. — This ancient and interesting titular church
in the piazza of the same name, opens into a little street
called Pallacince, and was long known simply as " Titulus History.
Pallacinae." It is so styled in an inscription to a lector
of the church of the year 348.* The origin of the
word is obscure. A street of this name is mentioned
by Cicero,! and in the viii. century ^ portico close
to the Flaminian circus was called in Pallacinis.
S. Marco was certainly built in the first years of
the " Peace," and, according to the account of the
Liber Pontificalis, by Pope Mark (336-7 to 337-41) in
honour of the Evangelist. Under Pope Symmachus
(499) it appears as already an ancient titular church.
Gregory IV. rebuilt it, and the mosaics of the tribune
are of this date (827-844). During some excavations
in 1843, a hypogeum, probably of the Constantine
epoch, was discovered beneath the confession by Mon-
signor Bartohni,]; decorated with images of the Saviour,
and of the saints Abdon, Sennen, and Ermete, whose
bodies were placed here by Gregory IV.
Paul II. (1464) restored the basilica and reduced it
to its present form, and repaired the roof with leaden
tiles, some of which with the inscription and date are
still preserved in the chapter-room. The same pope
enclosed the church within the confines of the Venetian
palace, which was his favourite residence, and adorned
the piazza before the church with two urns, one of
serpentine from the Colosseum, and one of porphyry,
which had served as the tomb of Costanza, and is now
in the Vatican museum. This urn was called la concha,
and is mentioned in documents of the xvi. century
as a landmark by which to describe the position of
some houses, " Una casa posta a S. Marcho appresso
la concha. "§
* De Rossi, Inscr. Christ., i., p. 62.
t Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino.
\ Bartolini, La Sotterr. Confess, delta Rom. has. S. Marco., 1844.
§ Archives of S. Pietro in Vincoli, 1555.
266 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Interior.
Chapels.
Mosaics
of the
tribune.
In this century, the xvi., S. Marco exercised juris-
diction over 14 important churches in the city.
The basilica was once more restored at the expense
of Niccolo Sagredo, Venetian ambassador, and later,
in 1744, Cardinal Quirino restored the choir and altar,
and added the pilasters of the aisles and the columns
encrusted with Sicihan alabaster in the nave.
Originally the church was approached through an
atrium, according to the basilica form. The ancient
fountain of the atrium now stands in the portico of the
church, bearing an inscription of one Johannes, priest
of the church.
In this portico are also some Roman and Christian
inscriptions. The fine doors, of the xv. century, date
probably from Paul II.'s restorations.
The nave is entered by a descent of several steps.
The roof is of the xv. century.
The Jirst chapel on the right, contains an altar-piece
of the Resurrection by Palma Giovanni.
The third, the chapel of the Specchi family, an
adoration of the Magi, by Maratta. At the extremity
of this aisle is a fine picture of Pope Mark of the
Bellini school, attributed to Crivelli.
The mosaics of the tribune, of the ix. century,
represent the Redeemer, Byzantine in type, and of
austere aspect, standing, and holding an open book
with the words, " Ego sum resurrectio." On either
side the letters A fl. At His sides stand S. Mark the
Evangelist, Mark the Pope, and the martyrs Felicis-
simus and Agapitus killed upon the Via Appia with
Sixtus II., S. Agnes, and Pope Gregory IV., holding
the model of the church in his hand.
Below, is the mystic lamb with the Holy Spirit in
the form of a dove above it, and at its feet the four
rivers, with their names, Geofi, Fison, Tigris, and Eiifra.
The 12 sheep on either hand issue from the two cities.
In the extension of the arch, is a bust of Christ giving
the benediction in the Greek mode, and the four
symbols of the Evangelists.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 267
The frescoes here are by Borgognone.
An inscription upon the ancient ciborium states that it
was made in 11 54 by the four brothers Paolo. In the
left aisle the fcnirth chapel contains an altar-piece of
S. Gregory Barbadigo, by Antonio d'Este, the secoitd
chapel, a S. Michael by Mola. At the extremity of
botla aisles are rich cases of relics.
There are many tombs of Venetians in this church ;
among them that of Leonardo Pesaro, a youth of
sixteen, by Canova.
Feast day. — April 25.
The Station is on the 3rd Monday in Lent.
-According to Papias, the interpreter of S. s. Mark.
Peter, the Apostle Barnabas had a Christian sister Mary,
and her son was John surnamed Mark. He appears to
have remained the friend and companion of both Peter
and Barnabas (cf. i Peter v. 13). It is related of him
that being sent by Peter to preach in Egypt, he spent
12 years in Lybia and Thebais, and founded the
Church of Alexandria, He was seized during a great
feast of Serapis, as a magician, bound and dragged
along the streets, and over stones and rocks, till he was
left to die. It is said that during this agonizing death
he heard a voice saying, " Pax tibi Marce Evangelista
mens," Peace to thee, Mark, my Evangelist. This is
called the motto of the Venetians, where it is very
frequently seen on a book by the " lion of S. Mark."
After his tomb had been venerated in Alexandria for
many centuries, his relics were carried off by Venetian
merchants to their own city. This was about a.d. 815.
See also p. 189.
There are 76 churches, chapels, and oratories
dedicated to the Madonna in Rome.
s. MARIA DEGLI ANGELI.— One of the great halls of
the Baths of Diocletian which had survived the ravages
of time, and the still worse perils of vandalism, was
dedicated as a church under this name in the reign of
Pius IV. Its adaptation was undertaken by Michael
268 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL HOME
Angelo, who also designed the fine cloisters of the
monastery built among the huge ruins of the baths.
Owing to the dampness of the ground, he was obliged
to raise the floor of the church 8 feet, hiding the bases
of the columns. Eight of these are antique, of one
solid piece of Egyptian granite 40 feet in height. In
the church as planned by Michael Angelo, the prin-
cipal entrance was to the south, in what is now the
right transept, with the high altar where now is the
left transept. The present extraordinary change of
plan was made in 1749, in order to erect a chapel to
blessed Nicholas Albergati a Carthusian. The great
door was blocked up, the side-door became the prin-
cipal entrance, and the great nave became the transept,
a tribune being added. In spite of this unfortunate
alteration the building is magnificent in its size and
proportions. It was consecrated by Pius IV., and the
ancient title of S. Ciriaca, a neighbouring church then
in ruins, was transferred to it. The adjoining monastery
was given to the Carthusian monks, and this order
held it until lately expelled by the Italian Government,
which converted the convent building into a barrack.
It has now become the national museum.
Interior. The church is now approached by a circular vestibule.
Here are the tombs of Carlo Maratta and Salvator
Rosa. In a niche further on is the beautiful statue of
S. Bruno by Houdon, of which Clement XIV. said
" it would speak, had the rules of the order per-
mitted it." On the left is a chapel to the Madonna
with an altar-piece of Peter receiving the keys, by
Muziano.
The great transept now entered is 300 feet long by
91 feet wide, and 84 feet in height. Diagonally across
it a meridian line in bronze was laid down in 1701,
with the signs of the Zodiac in coloured marbles.
Upon the walls are the huge pictures removed from
the altars of S. Peter's, where they have been replaced
by mosaic copies ; besides which, on the right, are
copies of Guide's Crucifixion of Peter, and of Vanni's
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 269
Fall of Simon Magus, the original of which is in
S. Peter's. Opposite are S. Jerome by Muziano, the
landscape of which is by Brill, and the Resuscitation
of Tabitha by Mancini,
In the left transept, first, the Mass of S. Basil by
Subleyras ; the Fall of Simon Magus, by Battoni.
Opposite, the Immaculate Conception by Bianchi,
and the Resuscitation of Tabitha, by Costanzi.
In the choir on the right, is Domenichino's S. Sebas-
tian, and Romanelli's Presentation in the Temple.
On the left, Pomarancio's Death of Ananias and
Sapphira, and Maratta's Baptism of Christ. The two
chapels at either end of the transept, formed out of
halls of the baths, are dedicated to blessed Niccolo
Albergati and S. Bruno.
The Station is on the ist Saturday in Lent.
S. MABIA DELL' ANIMA, by the Piazza Navona, is a
church of the xv. century, erected in the reign of
Eugenius IV. by one Giovanni di Pietra and his wife
Caterina, of Flanders, with a hospital attached for their
poor compatriots.
The church is called dell' Anima from a marble
group of the Virgin with two symbolic figures of souls,
found upon the spot, a copy of which now stands at
the door. It is the national church of the Austrians,
and has an Austrian college of chaplains and a hospital
for Austrian poor attached to it.
This church is said to have been designed by
Bramante ; its fa9ade with three doors ornamented
with rich marbles, was added by San Gallo.
The choir was designed by Paolo Posi ; above the
altar are frescoes by Ludwig Stern.
The altar-piece is one of Giulio Romano's best
works : a Holy Family, much injured however by
inundations of the Tiber, and retouched by Saraceni.
There are two fine monuments on either side of the
altar ; that to the right, of the German pope Adrian VI.,
designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, and executed by
Michelangelo Sanese and Niccolo Tribolo, a Floren-
270 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
tine. Among the intersecting arches of this monu-
ment is the figure of the pope, and in niches the
cardinal virtues.
Opposite is the tomb of the Duke of Cleves, ob. 1575,
by German sculptors ; the bas-relief from this monu-
ment, representing Gregory XIII. investing this duke
with his honours, has been removed from its place into
the entrance of the sacristy.
By this door is the monument to Lucas Holstein,
canon of S. Peter's, and Hbrarian of the Vatican,
erected by Cardinal Barberini.
Chapels. The first chapel on the right contains an altar-piece
by Saraceni ; the second, a holy family by Gimignani.
In the fourth is an indifferent and altered copy of
Michael Angelo's Pieta.
On the left, in the fourth chapel, are frescoes of
Salviati ; in the third, frescoes of the life of S. Barbara,
by Coxcie ; and in the first, the martyrdom of S. Lam-
bert, by Saraceni.
S. MABIA IN AQTJIEO.— This diaconal church, in the
Piazza Capranica, is mentioned in the Liber Ponti-
ficalis of Gregory III. (731) and IV. (827), and of
Leo III. (795), under the name of S. Maria in Cyro,
a name of obscure origin. Some consider the church
to have been built by Pope Anastasius* (399) •
Originally it was of basilica form, and it maintained
this aspect until the restorations of Cardinal Salviati in
1590. The fa9ade is of the last century, and the
church has been again restored by Pius IX. Among
other privileges conferred upon the archpriest of this
basilica, was that of presenting to the pope on
Saturday in albis a cock and a crown as he dismounted
from his mule at the Lateran.
Several Roman families have their burial vaults in
this church.
S. MABIA DELL' AVENTINO, or del Priorato, more
commonly known under the second name, is built upon
* Marangoni, Cose Gcntiksche.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 271
some of the ruins .upon the Aventine Hill, possibly
upon those of the Temple of Bona Dea. Its exact
origin is unknown. In the xiii. century it was one
of the principal abbeys of Rome, and it was one of
the earliest to be dedicated to the Madonna.
The annexed convent dates from the year 939, when
it was built upon the palace of Alberic the Patrician,
who gave up his own dwelling for the purpose. This
monastery of Basilian monks became one of the most
privileged and one of the largest in Rome. In it,
Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII., passed many
years of his life. From 1320 it belonged to the
Knights Hospitallers or Knights of Malta, and became
a priory of the order, and it has lately again passed
into their possession. Church and convent were re-
stored by Pius V. (1566), and again in 1765 by Cardinal
Rezzonico, Grand Prior of the order. Much damage
was done to the building in 1849 by the French
artillery.
During the restorations of the last century, an urn
was found bearing an inscription to the effect that here
reposed the rehcs of SS. Abbondius and Sabinus.
The church has a single nave. It contains an
ancient sarcophagus of marble, used at a later date
as the tomb of Bishop Spinelli, some xvi. century
monuments to members of the Caracciolo and Caraffa
famihes, and several tombs of Grand Priors and other
members of the order.
There is a magnificent view of the whole of Rome
from the garden of the Priorato. In the villa itself, a
large hall is hung with the portraits of Grand Masters
and Lieutenants of the Mastery, from 11 13 to the
present day.
8. MAEIA IN CAMPITELLI, or in Portico, is a xvii.
century church in the Piazza Campitelli, built upon
the site of a much older church of the same name. The
original building was consecrated by Honorius III.
in 121 7. The modern church, designed by Rinaldi,
was finished under Alexander VII., and, being larger
272 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
than the old one, the house of the Albertoni was pulled
down to make room for it. During a great pestilence,
the much venerated image of the Madonna from the
church of S. Maria in Portico, which is said to have
checked the plague, was removed to S. Maria in
Campitelli, which from that time took in addition the
name of in Portico.
The church contains a picture of the Descent of the
Holy Spirit, by Luca Giordano, and in the second chapel
on the left some fragments of fine Oriental alabaster
from the neighbouring Portico of Octavia, and some
good monuments ; that on the right being to Cardinal
Pacca, Pius VI I. 's minister, by Pettrick.
S. MARIA IN CAMPO MAEZIO was in existence prior to
the first half of the viii. century, as at that time it
was in the hands of some Basilian nuns, who had
brought with them from Constantinople the body of
S. Gregory Nazianzen and other relics of martyrs.
These Greek nuns later adopted the Benedictine rule,
and their convent became enriched with many goods
and privileges. S. Maria sopra Minerva belonged to
them also until it passed under Gregory IX. (1370) to
the Dominicans. In 1564 a new church was built for
them at the expense of Chiara Colonna, and the body of
S. Gregory Nazianzen was removed by Gregory XIII.
to the Vatican. The church was desecrated during
the French occupation, but was restored to the nuns
by Pius VII.
S. MABIA DELIA CONCEZIONE— the Cappuccini. This
church, one of the most popular in all Rome, stands
at the side of the Piazza Barberini, and was built in
1626 by Cardinal Barberini, nephew of Urban VIII.,
and himself a Capuchin friar. Before the new Via
Veneto was cut through the rising ground at this point,
the approach to the church and convent shaded by an
avenue of fine trees, was one of the most picturesque
spots of old Rome. The new road has shorn away a
portion of the Capuchin monastery, and a good piece
THE CHURCHES W ROME 273
of the old monastery garden which used to adjoin the
Ludovisi villa.
The church has no particular architectural merit, interior.
and is known chiefly for the pictures it contains, chapels
Over the door in the interior is a painted copy of
Giotto's mosaic of Peter walking on the waves. In
the Jirst chapel on the right is Guido Reni's S. Michael.
The Lucifer in this picture is popularly said to be a
portrait of Urban VIII., while others consider it to
have been Cardinal Pamfili afterwards Innocent X.
towards whom Guido had a grudge. The "Tempta-
tion of Christ," by Gherardo della Notte is also in this
chapel.
In the third chapel to the right, is the Ecstasy
of S. Francis by Domenichino. In front of the high
altar the tomb of Cardinal Barberini, founder of
the church, with the inscription, '^ Hie Jacet pulvis,
cinis, et nihil.'' To the left of the altar, the tomb
of Alexander Sobieski, son of John III. King of
Poland, who died in Rome in 17 14. The painting
over the high altar is a copy of an Ascension by
Lanfranco.
In the third chapel to the left, is a " dead Christ " by
Camassei, pupil of Domenichino ; and in the first on
the left, the Conversion of Paul by Pietro da Cortona.
Beneath the church are some burial vaults, where the
bones of dead friars of the convent are arranged in
fantastic and ghastly patterns upon the walls. In
these vaults is some earth brought from Jerusalem,
and the body of each friar who dies is allowed to rest
in the sacred ground for the period of six months,
when it is removed to make way for another occupant.
The vaults are lit up on November 2, and can be
seen at any time upon applying at the sacristy. The
Capuchins were removed to this monastery from
S. Croce dei Lucchesi on the slopes of the Quirinal.
8. MAKIA IN COSMEDIN.— This interesting church, Historj'.
one of the so-called smaller basilicas and an ancient
diaconate, stands on the Piazza Bocca della Verita,
18
274 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
close to the Ponte Rotto. It is built upon a temple
dedicated to Ceres and Proserpine which stood at the
extremity of the Circus Maximus, and several of the
Corinthian columns of this temple can still be seen
built into the walls of the church, in the portico,
and in the sacristy. The date of the foundation of
this church is unknown ; very possibly it originated
during or soon after the ages of persecution, and in
the VI. century it was already enumerated among
the diaconate churches of Rome. At this date it was
known as S. Maria in Schola Greca, and is so men-
tioned by the anonymous writer of the Einsiedeln
Itinerary. The whole of this region seems to have
belonged to the Greeks in the viii. century ; the
rivM" bank close by was called " Ripa Greca," and a
street next to the church is still called Via della
Greca.
Adrian I. (771-795) rebuilt the church of S. Maria,
which was in a ruinous condition, and from this time
it was known as S. Maria in Cosmedin, a name
possibly derived from the Greek kosmos or " adorned,"
or according to others, from some Roman matron,
benefactress of the church.*
Nicholas I. again restored it (858-867), and further
attached to it a palace of considerable extent as a
papal residence.
Finally, in the xii. century, new restorations
were undertaken by Callixtus II., and the church
was again consecrated in 1123. Fortunately, much
still remains to us of this and of an earlier period,
and the church retained its primitive basilica form
until 1 71 8, when its titular cardinal Albani, added
Cam- a modern and inappropriate fa9ade. The campanile,
panile. one of the most beautiful in Rome, is of the viii.
or IX. century. In the xviii. century the church
was so much below the level of the neighbouring
piazza that it was entered by a whole flight of steps,
which rendered it so damp and unwholesome that in
♦ Garrucci, Storia delV Arte Crist.. 58.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 275
1715 Clement XI. cleared away the surrounding soil
as we now see it.
In the XII. century, Gelasius II., Celestin III.,
and the antipope Benedict XII. were elected in this
basilica. It seems to have possessed a chapter of canons
from 1236. They were suppressed by Eugenius IV.,
who gave the church to the Benedictines of S. Paolo
beyond the walls. The chapter was however, again •
restored by Leo X., and Pius V. made the church
parochial. In the xvi. century the papal residence
of Nicholas I. was in ruins, and the surroundings of
the church were squalid and abandoned. Signor
Armellini* gives an interesting account of a document
found by him among the secret archives of the Vatican,
in which the canons pray Alexander VII. for per-
mission to absent themselves from attending choir in
the church, owing to its unwholesomeness. The
petition is accompanied by a medical certificate stating
that it was dangerous to stay in the church more than
an hour and a half — on account of the bad air of the
locality, caused by the destruction of the woods in the
campagna by order of Sixtus V., which were infested
with bandits.
The church is approached through a portico, no Portico,
vestige remaining of its ancient atrium of the time
of Adrian I. This portico contains some interesting
inscriptions, among them that to Alfano chamberlain
of Callixtus II. ; a portion of stone ornamentation with
fragments of an inscription erroneously considered to
represent the fa9ade of Pope Adrian's palace in Via
Lata ; a ix. century list of gifts made to the basilica
of S. Valentine on the Via Flaminia, and the enormous
stone mask known as the " Bocca della Verita." This Bocca
mask which gives its name to the piazza, and also della
popularly to the church, was originally affixed to the Venta.
outside, and was placed in the portico in 1632. A
mediaeval legend asserts that those about to swear
oaths placed their hands in the mouth of the stone
• Chiese di Roma .
18—2
276 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
mask, which closed upon those who swore falsely.
This great stone may have served to close the opening
of some antique drain, or according to a more modern
theory,* may have belonged to a sacred well dedicated
to Mercury, to which Ovid relates, the merchants of
the neighbouring Foro Boario resorted to purge them-
selves of their false oaths.
Interior. The interior of the church has retained much of its
basilica form, and of the work undertaken under
Callixtus II. in the xii. century. Of this period
is the beautiful mosaic pavement (1119-1124), the
marble ambones, episcopal chair, candelabra, and
tabernacle. The nave of the church is divided from
the aisles by rows of delicate pillars 12 on each
side, some of which have been built into piers at a
later period. Restorations have once more been
commenced at the expense of Cardinal Ruggiero its
titular, and in which the Italian Government were
Present to join, this church being considered a national monu-
restora- ment. Unfortunately no funds are forthcoming for
tions. ^jjg moment from the Government, and as Cardinal
Ruggiero may not proceed without its co-operation,
all work is at a standstill, and the church can only be
seen by applying to the sacristan. These works have
already brought to Hght much of interest : the original
straight walls above the pillars pierced with arched
windows, and upon which traces of frescoes are clearly
visible, hitherto hidden with a domed ceiling of plaster ;
besides frescoes in good preservation upon the sides of
the tribune. Several of the slabs covered with mosaic
forming part of the pavement have been found to be
ornamented with rich stone carving upon the reverse
side, and very possibly formed a portion of the pectoral
transenna, or low balustrade round the choir. Of such
a balustrade no portion now remains in position, but
Choir. the pavement of what was originally the choir still
remains at its original level, about 6 inches above that
of the nave. The two marble ambones decorated
* Prof. Feis.. Cronachetta Menstiale, 1885, 53.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 277
with mosaic, still remain in place, with the beautiful
twisted candelabrum at the gospel ambone.
Another such candelabrum stands in the tribune. Canopy,
and in the centre of this latter is the marble episcopal
throne referred to. Of the same beautiful mosaic
work is the canopy Gothic in design, over the high
altar, supported upon four pillars of red granite. This
is the work of Deodatus Cosma. Beneath the altar
is an urn of red porphyry containing the relics of
saints. The tribune is raised according to the basihca
plan, above the nave and choir. Beneath it and
reached by steps at the sides, is a large crypt, for- Crypt,
gotten and closed for many years, and discovered in
1 71 7. It possesses a double row of marble pillars and
a small altar. Here, are preserved the relics of S.
Cirilla, and a stone is shown as the spot of her
martyrdom. A fragment of an inscription upon lead
was discovered some years ago in the church, enumer-
ating the relics of many popes and martyrs here pre-
served.
In the tribune* is an interesting painting of the
Madonna and Child, said to be of Greek origin, and
to have been brought from Byzantium during the
iconoclastic dispute. Others consider it to be by an
Italian artist of the xii. century. In the sacristy
is preserved a beautiful piece of mosaic representing
the adoration of the magi, removed from the chapel of
John VII. (705-708) in the old Vatican Basilica, when
this latter was destroyed. The chapter of S. Maria in
Cosmedin now consists of 12 canons and 9 minor canons.
Feast day. — September 8.
The Station is on Ash Wednesday.
The little circular temple opposite this church, Temple of
known as the Temple of Vesta, or of Hercules, has Hercules,
been preserved to us by having been consecrated as a
church by the Savelli family. It was first known as
S. Stefano, and after 1560 as S. Maria del Sole. It is
no longer a church.
• For the moment in the canon's choir.
278 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. MAEIA IN DOMNICA, called also Navicella on account
of the marble boat in front of it, is near the Villa
Mattel Hoffman, on the Celian Hill. This is a church
seldom open, and belongs to the Greco-Melchite
monks (Clement XH., 1734). It is one of the most
historically interesting in Rome, and one of the most
ancient. Tradition points it out as the house of
Cyriaca, and a meeting-place of the Christians during
the persecutions. Here she concealed them, and
ministered to them with great charity, and here
A.D. 258. Laurence repaired on the evening of the day that he
had distributed the treasure of the church to the poor.
He found Cyriaca sick, and healed her by laying his
hands on her ; and then, in consoling and ministering
to the fugitive Christians with whom her house was
full, he prepared for his own approaching death.
S. Maria in Domnica is the only church in Rome
which retains the ancient name of Dominicum. It was
the first of the diaconia of the city, and the Archdeacon
of Rome resided here. This is another instance of a
saint giving her house as a Diaconia, Titulus, or
Dominicum.
A.D. 817. Paschal I. found it nearly ruinous, and rebuilt and
enlarged it from the foundation.
John de' Medici, afterwards Leo X., restored it in
1500 from Raffael's designs, aided, it is said, by
Bramante. It was again restored by Pius V. The
Doric portico of travertine is the work of Michel-
angelo. There are 3 doors leading respectively to the
nave and 2 aisles of the church. Eighteen columns of
beautiful and rare granite, two of which are mixed
red, the others gray, divide the very wide nave from
the aisles. The roof over the nave was constructed
by Cardinal Ferdinand di Medici, in the time of
Sixtus V. The same cardinal renewed the pavement.
The roof of the aisles was vaulted by Leo X. The
chiaroscuro frieze which runs round the nave is the
work of P. del Vaga, designed perhaps by Giulio
Romano. There are 3 altars, the tribune altar and
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 279
one on either side, at the end of the aisles. Six steps
on each side ascend to the tribune, which is apsidal.
In the confession below it is the body of S. Balbina.
The fine mosaic of the tribune arch is the work of
artists of the time of Paschal, placed here between
817 and 821. The apse is the work of the same pope,
and the body of the church also remains as originally
reconstructed by him.
The mosaic represents the Madonna enthroned with
her Child ; over her left hand she has a white niappula.
Paschal I. in alb and stole, kneels at her side, facing
the church, and takes her foot in his right hand ; he
has the square (blue) nimbus. Crowds of angels are
represented on either hand ; the 3 front angels on
each side wear the gold nimbus, the rest blue — they
are all female figures. On the arch above, is an oval
with the figure of Christ, an angel on each side, and
then the 12 apostles ; all the figures are in white.
The two angels wear the blue nimbus, the apostles
gold. On the flanks of the arch, facing the church, are
2 prophetic figures who point to the Virgin and Child,
with scrolls in their hands. This mosaic was restored
by Clement XI. The arch is supported by 2 porphyry
columns. The altar faces the church, as is usual in
basilicas. In the apse behind it is a modern episcopal
chair ; and there are remains of an Alexandrine pave-
ment here. The side chapels are also apsidal ; in
that to the right of the spectator is frescoed the trans-
figuration ; to the left, the Baptism of Christ, with the
Holy Spirit above, and the inscription " Filio altissimi,"
" To the Son of the Most High."
This church was dedicated to the Madonna before
the time of Paschal. It may be found open early on
Sunday morning, the congregation perhaps consisting
of an old woman and the server, and a carter who has
left his hay-laden waggon outside, the sound of the
horses' bells and the scent of the hay coming in at
the open door while the Greco- Melchite mass proceeds
within.
28o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
, In the time of Honorius IV. the hill is called Mons
Major, the Greater Hill. Severano considers that the
Navicella may have been placed here by the Vatican
chapter, which possessed this part of the Celian ;
others say it was placed on account of a vow. Leo X.
removed the original antique, and substituted the copy
which we now see. The spot is not called " Navicella"
in any document earher than the xvi. century; and
it is a pity that any other name than S. Maria in
Domnica should become popular for this church.
The church is opened for the Station on the 2nd Sunday in
Lent,
For S. Cyriaca see her catacomb, Chapter X.
S. MAEIA LIBERATEICE.— This, the only church to the
south of the Forum, was erected upon an older build-
ing hidden and covered with ruins at the time. The
existence of this lower church was first discovered in
the XVI. century, and an account of the discovery was
found by Armellini in the Vatican Library.'' It was
later seen to be decorated with paintings of the viii.
century, and to communicate by means of a gallery
with an ancient hall of the Palatine, both hall and
gallery ornamented with paintings of the xi. century.
The church was originally called S. Maria dell' Inferno,
from its being so encumbered with high ground and
fallen ruins that it stood as it were, in a pit, and when
the lower church was found, further excavation was
impossible. It is much to be hoped that now when
excavation is comparatively easy, efforts will be made
to bring to light the hidden basilica and its treasures.
An odd legend attached to this church — that here Pope
Sylvester subdued a dragon, a legend which De Rossi
ingeniously suggests may have originated with the
suppression of the cult of Vesta and the dragon that
accompanies her.f
A monastery of Benedictines, first of monks, then
of nuns existed near the church. In the xv. century
* Galletti, Cron. Miscell., xxxiii.
t ArmelUni, Chiese di Roma.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 281
however, both house and church were abandoned, and
in 1550 were given to the Oblates of Tor de' Specchi
who still possess the church. The name " S. Maria
deir Inferno " was later changed to " S. Maria libera
nos a poenis infernis," and is now S. Maria Liberatrice.
In 1617 the church was completely restored by Cardinal
Lante.
S. MABIA SOPEA MINERVA stands near the site of a
temple dedicated to Minerva, which was built by
Pompey in thanksgiving for his victories in Asia.
Until the xvi. century, the cella of the temple still
existed in the contiguous monastery. The church
was given by Pope Zacharias about 750 to the Greek
nuns of Campo Marzio, who subsequently abandoned
it. The anonymous writer of the Einsiedeln Itinerary
of the VIII. century notes the convent of S. Maria
ml Minervium. In 1370 the Senate and Roman people
gave the church to the Friars Preachers, who finding
S. Sabina inconvenient, desired a site within the city.
Nicholas III. had begun to rebuild the church in 1280
from the designs of the brothers Sisto and Ristori, the
architects of S. Maria Novella in Florence. It was
finished by the Dominicans when it passed into their
hands, the expenses being defrayed by the contribu-
tions of many illustrious Romans and others. The
architect of the building is unknown ; he was probably
a Florentine, and the church is the only one of im-
portance in Rome of Gothic style. The tribune was
added later by Carlo Maderno. The fa9ade is un-
finished, and is chiefly interesting for the marks it
bears recording the floods from the overflow of the
Tiber during 400 years. The church was restored
and redecorated in 1848, with the most brilliant colours
and stucco, which has considerably spoiled the sim-
plicity and harmony of the interior. It consists of a interior,
nave divided from 2 aisles by 6 piers of fine gray
marble ; the roof is vaulted. There is a wide transept,
and 6 chapels in either aisle. The church contains
paintings and monuments of considerable interest.
282 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Monu-
ments
by main
entrance.
Right
aisle.
Chapels
Right
transept.
Immediately to the left of the main entrance is the
monument of Francesco Tornabuoni, by Mino da
Fiesole ; above it, that of Cardinal Tebaldi, ob. 1466,
by Andrea del Verocchio ; and the monument of the
Pacci family, by Giacomo della Porta. On the right,
the tomb of Diotisalvi, a Florentine knight, ob. 1482.
In the right aisle are the following chapels :
I. After the baptistery, that of the Caffarelli family,
containing a picture of S. Lewis Bertrand by Baciccio,
and paintings on the pilasters by Muziano.
II. The Colonna chapel, with an altar-piece of S.
Catherine, and the tomb of Princess Colonna who
died of cholera at Genzano in 1868.
III. The Gabrielli chapel, with frescoes on the roof
by Muziano.
IV. Chapel of the Annunciation, Vault painted by
Cesare Nebbia. The altar-piece of the Anunciation,
with a gold background, is by Fra Angelico, or by
Benozzo Gozzoli. In the foreground of this picture
Cardinal Torrecremata is recommending three young
girls to the Virgin. In this chapel is the tomb of
Urban VII., ob. 1590, by Buonvicino, and that of
Cardinal Torrecremata. Between this chapel and the
preceding one, is a Greek sarcophagus near the closed
door.
V. Aldobrandini chapel, designed by Giacomo della
Porta. The paintings are by Alberti, and the altar-
piece of the " last Supper " by Baroccio. This chapel
contains the monument to the two parents of Cle-
ment VIII. The figures upon this, and those of S.
Sebastian and "Charity," are by Cordieri. " Religion"
is by Mariani, and Clement VIII. is by I. Buzio.
VI. This chapel contains 2 xvi. century monuments
to Didacus de Coca a Spanish bishop, and to Benedetto
Superanzio, a Venetian, and the grave of one of the
sons of William Wilberforce, a Catholic convert. On
the wall beyond this chapel is a fresco of S. Agata and
S. Lucia, placed here by Honesta Marsiliana.
Immediately on entering the transept, to the right,
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 283
is a small chapel containing a wooden crucifix said
to be the work of Giotto, At the end of the right
transept is the chapel of S. Thomas Aquinas. The chapel of
paintings of this chapel are by Filippino Lippi. In a S.Thomas
picture of the Annunciation over the altar, Cardinal Aquinas.
Caraifa is depicted with S. Thomas before the
Madonna. The fresco of the Assumption behind has
been much injured ; to the right, is S. Thomas' dispu-
tation with the heretics ; to the left, the monument to
the Caraffa pope, Paul IV., by Pirro Ligorio. The
ceiling of the chapel is painted by Raphael del Garbo,
and there is a fine ancient pavement.
Just outside this chapel is a beautiful monument to
the Dominican Guillaume Durand, Bishop of Mende,
ob. 1296, by one of the celebrated family of the Cos-
mati. Above is a mosaic of the Madonna and Child,
with the bishop, S. Dominic, S. Matthew, and other
saints. Next the chapel of S. Thomas is that of the
Altieri family, with an altar-piece by Maratta ; it re- Altieri
presents the saints canonized by Clement X. presented Chapel,
by S. Peter to the Madonna.
The next chapel contains frescoes on the ceiling Rosary
by Venusti ; an altar-piece which has been ascribed. Chapel,
though erroneously, to Fra Angelico ; and upon the
walls, frescoes by Giovanni de' Vecchi, representing
the life of S. Catherine. On the right, the saint mira-
culously fed by the Eucharist, receiving the stigmata,
and her visit to Gregory ; on the left, the sposalizio,
her receiving the habit, and praying in her room. On
the left of this chapel is a fine monument to Cardinal
Capranica, titular of S. Croce in Gerusalemme under
Paul II. The body of S. Catherine originally in this
chapel, is now under the high altar in a glass shrine. High
On the left of the high altar is Michael Angelo's statue altar,
of Christ Risen, a work of 1521, and the only work of
this artist in Rome in the time of Leo X. Behind the
altar, in the choir, are two monuments to Medici Choir,
popes, Leo X. and Clement VII., by Baccio Bandinelli.
The figures of the popes are, the former by Raphael
284 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Left tran-
sept.
Chapel
of S.
Dominic.
Sacristy.
da Montelupo, and the latter by Nanni di Baccio
Bigio. The pavement of the choir was originally
covered with sepulchral inscriptions, which in recent
restorations have been moved and misplaced. That
to Cardinal Bembo, the friend of Michael Angelo
Raphael and Ariosto, still remains ; and here also is
an inscription to Cardinal Howard, who died in Rome
in 1694. The glass of the choir is modern.
Beyond the high altar is a second entrance to the
church, and in the wall of the passage-way is an in-
scription to Fra Angelico, and a figure of the monk in
relief, with the words at his feet, " Hie jacet Vene"^
Picto Fr. Jo de Flo. ordis Predicato. 1455." He died
in the annexed monastery in that year. Beside it is
the monument of Cardinal Bonelli Bishop of Albano,
by Rainaldi, and opposite beautiful monuments to two
Cardinals Orsini, and other members of the order.
In the chapel beyond are some fine bas-relief monu-
ments in the pavement, and the monument of Cardinal
Ladislaus da Aquina, by Mochi.
In the left transept is a chapel dedicated to
S. Dominic, and decorated with some fine columns
of black marble. On the left is the monument of
Benedict XIII., ob. 1730, by Marchionni.
Close by is the entrance to the sacristy. Over the
door on the inside, is a fresco representing the conclave
held here in 1431 for the election of Eugenius IV.
Nicholas V. was also elected here in 1447.
Over the altar is a Crucifixion by Andrea Sacchi.
The frescoes of the ceiling are by Giuseppe del Bastaro.
A door at the further end leads up some steps to
the room of S. Catherine, occupied by her when in
Rome, and the walls of w^hich were transferred here
bodily from a house in the adjoining Via di Santa
Chiara. These walls are covered with frescoes by
Perugino, very difficult to see. Over the altar is a
Crucifixion ; to the left, the Annunciation. The altar
of the chapel is decorated with a bas-relief of the
Sposalizio.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 285
Returning to the church, the chapels in the left aisle Left aisle.
are as follows :
VI., and nearest the transept, contains the tomb of
Pius v., a Dominican pope.
V. This chapel is dedicated to S. James the Apostle ;
it contains two good sepulchral monuments, one of
them of Princess Lante, by Tenerani.
IV. The S. Vincent Ferrer chapel. It contains a
picture of this saint preaching, by Bernardo Castelli.
III. The Maffei chapel, contains a small picture of
Christ, said to be Perugino's ; a small statue of
S. Sebastian, by Mino da Fiesole ; and two monu-
ments to the Maffei family.
II. This chapel contains two curious xvi. century
monuments.
The annexed monastery is the Mother-house of the
Dominicans in Rome, and the residence of the General
of the order. The greater portion has been taken by
the Government for the ministerial offices of Public
Instruction. The old cloisters of the convent which
now form part of the Government property, are deco-
rated throughout with frescoes ; those in the first
arcades by Giovanni Valesio a Bolognese, G. A. LelH,
and G. del Bastaro. In the second branch of the
cloister are some antique sepulchral monuments re-
moved from the church, and that of Cardinal Ferrici,
a Spaniard, titular of S. Sisto, ob. 1487.
Feast days. — March 25, its titular feast. Feast of S. Catherine,
April 30 ; S. Dominic, August 10 ; S. Thomas Aquinas, March 7 ;
and all Dominican feasts.
For the Library, see Part IV. of this Handbook.
8. MARIA DEI MIRACOLI one of the twin churches
upon the Piazza del Popolo, between the extremity of
the Corso and Via di Ripetta, was begun in 1664
from designs of Rainaldi, and built by order of
Clement VIII. to receive an image of the Madonna
held by the people to be miraculous. The church
was not finished till much later, and at the expense of
Cardinal Gastaldi, from the designs of Bernini and
286 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Fontana. The interior is circular. It has a hand-
some travertine portico supporting stone statues.
8. MAEIA DI MONSEREATO is the national church of
the Spaniards. It was built in 151 8 by the natives of
Arragon and Catalonia. It replaced an older church
due to the generosity of two women, Jacoba Ferrandes
of Barcelona and Margherita Pauli 01 Majorca, who in
the XIV, century bought and endowed a house and
hospital for their compatriots. In 1495 the Spanish
confraternity of S. Maria di Monserrato was established
here.
The income of the institution was so much diminished
in the xviii. century that the image of Our Lady
of Monserrato had to be sold, and is now at Genez-
zano. The treasures of S. Giacomo in Piazza Navona
were transferred to it in 1822 when the church was
reconsecrated.
The bodies of the two Spanish popes, Callixtus III.
and Alexander VI., were removed to this church in
i6io. Buried in S. Maria della Febbre of the Vatican,
they were removed thence by Sixtus V. for the build-
ing of new S. Peter's, and after lying in diverse places
in the Vatican, were brought to this church. Here
they lay in rough cases in the sacristy, until finally
buried in the chapel of S. Diego in 1889.
This church was designed by San Gallo ; its unfinished
fa9ade is by Francesco da Volterra. It has a single
nave, with 6 chapels on either side crowned with
cupolas. In the Jirst chapel on the right is a painting
of S. Diego by Annibale Caracci ; to the right, a copy
of Mengs' Judgment of Solomon. In the tJiird chapel
on the left, is a statue of S. James by Bernini ; in the
first, a marble group of the Madonna and Child with
S. Anna, by Tommaso Bozzoli. A small and ancient
bas-relief of the Baptism is attached to the pier of this
chapel.
S. MAEIA DI MONTE SANTO upon the Piazza del Popolo,
at the extremity of the Via Babuino, was built in 1662
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 287
from designs of Bernini and at the expense of Cardinal
Gastaldi. Its name is derived from a small chapel
belonging to the Carmelite order, which stood upon
the site. The convent annexed to it, and the campanile
were designed by Marchese Theodoli. The church is
now under the patronage of the Borghese family. The
feast of S. Lucia, December 13, is celebrated in this
church.
S. MARIA DELL' ORTO in Trastevere derives its name
from an image of the Virgin at one time upon the gate
of a neighbouring garden. It belongs to the fruiterers'
and cheesemongers' guild, who possess the adjacent
hospital for members of their craft. Michael Angelo
made the first designs for the church, but it was not
erected until 15 12 when Giulio Romano was its archi-
tect. The fa9ade is by Martino Lunghi ; the high altar
by Giacomo della Porta. The interior is decorated
with rich marbles. It contains a picture of the An-
nunciation by Taddeo Zucchero, in the first chapel on
the right; and a Virgin with S. Antonio and S. Cathe-
rine, by Federico Zucchero, in the second chapel. The
frescoes of the transept are by Pesaro, and the paint-
ings in the first and third chapels on the left, are by
Baglioni.
S. MARLA DELLA PACE is the church of the water-
carriers. Water vendors were a necessity of the
middle ages. The city, a labyrinth of Httle streets
and great ruins, was without fountains of any Icind.
Those in need of water had to fetch it from the Tiber,
and it is related in the life of S. Francesca Romana
that her sister was nearly drowned while thus em-
ployed. The water-carriers owned a little church of
S. Andrew in the time of Sixtus IV. (1471), and in its
porch stood a picture of the Madonna. According to
tradition, a stone was thrown at the picture, which
bled ; whereupon the pope who was at this time in
fear of a general war among the states of the Penin-
sula, vowed to build a beautiful church upon the spot,
288 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
if delivered from his troubles. When this occurred,
he built the church of S. Maria della Pace in 1487,
which was completed by Alexander VII. who also
implored deliverance from trouble at this spot. The
picture of the legend is now above the high altar.
The architect of the church was Baccio PintelU. It
was completely renewed by Alexander VII. who added
the semicircular portico and fa9ade, from designs of
Pietro da Cortona. It has a short nave and an oc-
tagonal transept with a cupola.
Chapels. The first chapel to the right belongs to the Chigi
family. Upon the arch are the four sibyls, the
Cumaean, Persian, Phrygian and Tiburtine painted by
Raphael in 15 14, commissioned by the banker Agos-
tino Chigi. They are considered to be some of his best
works. Above are Prophets from Raphael's drawings
executed by Rosso Florentino. The bronze relief
over the altar is by C. Fancelli ; the bas-rehef of
children and the statue of S. Bernardino are by
E. Ferrata.
The second or Cesi chapel was designed by Michael
Angelo, and contains two monuments to this family.
The bas-reliefs are by Simone Mosca, and the vault
frescoes by Sicciolante.
High The High Altar was designed by Carlo Maderno. In
the vault are paintings by Albano, and on the four pilas-
ters, four saints by Lavinia Fontana ; the other paintings
are by Passignani. Beneath the cupola are four paint-
ings : the " Visitation," by Maratta ; the " Presenta-
tion," by Peruzzi ; the " Nativity," by Francesco
Vanni ; and the " Death of the Virgin," by Morandi.
In the first chapel on the left, belonging to the
Ponzetti family, a fresco of Peruzzi has been found
beneath a modern painting. In the vaulting of this
chapel are some scenes from the Old and New Testa-
ments, by Peruzzi. The annexed monastery, built in
1494, was the work of Bramante, and was given to
the Canons Regular of the Lateran. Under Pius VI I.
it passed to the Irish Dominicans, now at S. Clemente.
Altar.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 289
S. Maria della Pace is now a missionary church, and
a centre for the reunions and retreats of the clergy.
Its titular is Cardinal Logue. The approach to this
picturesque church with its quaint portico, is through
some of the old fashioned streets of Rome behind
Piazza Navona.
s. MABIA DELLA PIETA. — This church, with a German
hospital and college, stands in the Teutonic Campo
Santo, to the south of the Vatican basilica, on the site
of the Lombard settlement. It is a modern church, but
its site is of great interest. Close by is the place where
S. Peter suffered, and the present little cemetery is the
only spot which now reminds us of the contemporary
catacomb of Livia, where his body was laid to rest.
The Anglo-Saxons had their settlement near. From
the time of Pope Zacharias (741-752) to 1779 there
existed here a hospice for providing pilgrims with
food, and until 1624 it was also the office of the ponti-
fical almoner. The old hospital was destroyed by
Pius VI. to enlarge the space round the basilica, and
the present church built upon a portion of the ground,
the cemetery being granted to the Germans.''-
S. ELIZABETTA is the oratory in this Teutonic Campo
Santo, and belongs to the confraternity " della Pieta,"
It inherits its name from a church of S. Elizabeth near
the Valle, belonging to the guild of German bakers.
8. MARIA DEL POPOLO.-— A chapel was built upon this
site in 1099 by Paschal II. to dispel the evil spirits
which according to a popular tradition, haunted the
spot where lay the ashes of Nero. It was replaced by
a finer building in 1227, to which Gregory IX. moved
an image of the Virgin from the Lateran. This
• The Germans were settled on this spot in the xiv. century.
An ancient church, the site of which was the present chapel of
the Crucifix in S. M. della Piet^, had attached to it a cemetery
for those who died during their pilgrimage to Rome, hence its
name S. Salvatore De Ossibus : the Schola of the Franks, founded
by Charlemagne, was annexed to it. (See also Confraternities,
Part III.)
19
290 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Chapels :
Right
aisle.
Right
transept.
Choir.
church was rebuilt by Sixtus IV. from designs of
Pintelli (1480) ; Juhus II. decorated the interior; and
Alexander VII. employed Bernini to reduce it to its
present form. During the sack of Rome in 1527 the
adjoining convent was destroyed, and was rebuilt by
the Lombards. In this convent, an Augustinian house,
Luther stayed when in Rome. Parishes, especially
rural parishes, were in the middle ages called plehes and
populi, and hence probably the name of this church.
It contains paintings and monuments of considerable
interest. The chapels are as follows :
I. The first on the right, the Rovere chapel, dedicated
to the Madonna and S. Jerome, contains a series of
beautiful frescoes of the life of Jerome in the lunettes
of the vault, and an altar-piece of the Nativity, by
Pinturicchio. Here are the tombs of Cardinal della
Rovere, ob. under Sixtus IV., and Cardinal de Castro,
a Spaniard, ob. under Julius II.
II. The Cibo chapel, designed by Fontana, contains
an Assumption by Maratta, and bronze decorations by
Cavallini, and the tombs of the Cardinals Alexander
and Laurence Cibo. It is handsomely decorated with
marble.
III. This chapel is decorated by Pintviricchio with
five lunettes of the life of the Madonna ; over the altar,
a painting of four saints with the Madonna. Here is
the monument of Giovanni della Rovere, xvi. century ;
and the tomb of a bishop, the figure in bronze.
IV. This chapel contains frescoes by Pinturicchio in
the lunettes, and a xvi. century altar-piece ; also the
monuments of Cardinal Costa, ob. 1508, and of Alber-
toni, ob. i486. The altar-piece is a marble bas-relief
of the XV. century, representing S. Catherine with
S. Vincent and S. Antony of Padua.
Immediately to the right on entering the transept,
is the tomb of Cardinal Podocatharus ; beside it a door
leading to the sacristy, where are kept a fine xv. cen-
tury marble canopy from the older church, and the
monuments to bishops Rocca and Gomiel.
The vault of the choir is decorated by Pinturicchio.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 291
In the centre, the Redeemer and the Madonna ; beneath,
the four Evangehsts, four sibyls, and the four doctors of
the church, all the paintings surrounded by arabesques.
Here are the tombs of Cardinals Sforza and Basso,
by Andrea da Sansovino, of the early xvi. century.
The painted glass, executed by order of Julius II., is
the work of Claude and Guillaume of Marseilles. The Left
chapel beyond contains a painting of the Assumption, transept,
by Caracci, and a Crucifixion and Conversion of S.
Paul, by Caravaggio.
IV. This chapel, that of the Crucifix, is decorated Left aisle,
with frescoes of the Flemish school.
III. The third, the Melhni chapel, contains two monu-
ments of this family by Algardi ; it is painted by G. da
Giovanni. It also contains the monument of Cardinal
Mellini, ob. 1478.
1 1 . The Chigi chapel was built from designs of Raphael.
Upon the ceiling are mosaics designed by this artist,
and executed by Aloisio della Pace. The altar-piece,
the Nativity of the Virgin, is by S. del Piombo ; the
Jonah was designed by Raphael. Daniel, Habbacuc,
and the tasteless monuments of the Chigi family, are
Bernini's.
I . In this chapel are the tombs of Cardinals Castiglione
and Pallavicino, of the xv. century, and some bas-reliefs
of the XIV.
B. MAEIA IN TEASPONTINA.— The present church of
this name in the Borgo leading to S. Peter's was built
in 1566. It replaces however, a much older church
of the same name mentioned in the catalogues as early
as the XII. century, and destroyed to make room for
new bastions to the fort. The mediaeval itineraries
speak of the ruins of some Roman tombs close to this
church, one pf which, pyramidal in form, was popularly
held to be the tomb of Romulus.
8. MARIA IN TBA8TEVEEE. — The Christians were
allowed a place of assembly in Trastevere by the
Emperor Alexander Severus in the iii. century, which
seems to have been a kind of hospice or tavern, the
19 — 2
292 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
taberna meritoria, to which an inscription originally upon
the fa9ade of S. Maria in Trastevere referred. It is
likely that a church was afterwards built upon this
primitive place of assembly, as was usual in the first
centuries, though it is impossible to accept as historical
the later entry in the Liber Pontificahs that it was built
by Pope Callistus. Tradition however asserts that
Callistus, who was buried on the neighbouring Via
Aurelia, was martyred in the vicinity, and it is certain
that already in the Constantinian epoch this region
was known as area Cdllisti, a term which appears upon
a slave's collar of the period. A legend also attached
to the church, in circulation in the time of Eusebius, to
the effect that a well of oil sprang up shortly before
the birth of Christ in this region, but the origin of
this legend is unknown.
The actual history of the church of S. Maria does
not begin until the iv. century, when Pope Julius I.*
(337-352) built a basilica, henceforth known as Titulus
Julii.\ This basilica was restored by John VIII.
(872-882), and its walls were adorned with frescoes.
Other works were undertaken in the church by
Gregory II. and Gregory III. (731-741). Adrian I.
added two additional aisles, and Gregory IV., in 828,
built a monastery adjacent, and raising the level of
the tribune, made a " confession " beneath, where were
deposited the bodies of Pope Callistus and S. Cale-
podius. This pope also enclosed within a marble
balustrade a choir, or " schola cantorum,'' in the centre
of the nave, the remains of which were discovered
beneath the pavement during some recent restorations.
Leo IV., in 847, and Benedict III. (855) both under-
took works of decoration and repair in the church,
and finally Innocent II. (1130) had it almost entirely
rebuilt. The church as we see it to-day, and the
mosaics of the tribune, are of this period. Unfor-
• This pope built another church over the tomb of CalHstus on
the Via Aureha, where he was himself buried.
t It is uncertain when the basilica was dedicated to the
Madonna. It is described in the Liber Pontificalis as " Basilica
Julia juxta Callistum."
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 293
tunately, it again " suffered restoration " at the hands
of later popes, and it cannot be too deeply deplored
that so many of the beautiful basilicas of Rome have
been injured, and some of them entirely ruined, by
restorations undertaken at a period of depraved archi-
tectural taste. Pius V., Clement XL, and Pius IX.
were all restorers of S. Maria in Trastevere. Fontana
designed a new portico, and Domenichino the gorgeous
ceiling with the picture of the Assumption in its centre.
The old Alexandrine pavement was removed, and the
present one of marble put in its place.
In spite of all, the church retains much of its primi- Interior,
tive basilica form. The 24 red granite columns dividing
nave from aisles are of different orders and heights,
and were probably taken from a temple of Isis, as they
were decorated with small heads of Isis and Serapis,
which were chipped off during the restorations in 1870!
These same restorations brought to light remains of
the building of Julius I. in the tribune, and frescoes of
the time of Gregory IV., and many precious inscrip-
tions from the catacombs which had been used as
building material, and which are now collected and
attached to the walls of the portico.
The high altar is of the time of Innocent II. (1130) ; High
beneath is the confession ; above is a canopy, also of ^-Itar.
this period, upon four red porphyry pillars. Close by
is the spot, marked by the words Fons Olei, where
according to the legend, the oil gushed forth.
The mosaics of the tribune have been several times Mosaics,
restored. They represent in the centre, the Redeemer
in golden mantle and blue tunic, holding an open book
in His hand, upon which the words : " Veni electa mea
et ponam in te thromim meum," are visible. Beside
Him is the Virgin arrayed as a Byzantine empress,
and beyond her Callistus, S. Laurence, and Pope
Innocent II. On the other side of the Redeemer,
Peter, Cornelius, and Julius I. Above is the hand
holding the wreath, typical of God, and below, the
usual lamb upon the mount, with the 6 sheep on either
hand and the two mystic cities. Upon the face of the
294 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
arch is an equilateral cross in the centre of 7 candle-
sticks, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the
symbols of the four Evangelists. Close to Isaiah is a
palm with a phoenix, and near Jeremiah a bird in a
cage.
Lower Lower down in the apse of the tribune is a second
series. series of mosaics, representing 7 scenes in the life of
the Virgin namely : her birth, the annunciation, the
nativity, the adoration of the magi, the purification,
and her death. In the centre above the bishop's
throne, is a bust of the Virgin and Child with SS. Peter
and Paul, kneeling below is the figure of the donor,
one Bertholdus, of the Stefaneschi family, living at the
end of the xiii. century, and who was buried in the
church. This series of mosaics is by the celebrated
mosaicist, Pietro Cavallini, and in the xvii. century
his name was still to be seen upon them, " Hoc opus
fecit Petrus . . ."
There are two large frescoes by Ciampelli in the
tribune.
Chapels. To the right of the high altar is a chapel designed
by Domenichino, and called S. Maria di Strada Cupa
from a picture it contains, which was much venerated
by the people in a little street in Trastevere, and was
removed to the church in the xvi. century. This
chapel was restored by Cardinal York. Near the door
into the sacristy a fragment of an ancient mosaic has
been preserved ; and a beautiful tabernacle for the
sacred oils by Mino da Fiesole, and bearing his name.
Over the altar of the sacristy is a painting, said to be
Perugino's, of the Madonna between S. Roch and
S. Sebastian.
There are many monuments of interest in this church.
The body of Innocent II. was moved here from the
Lateran by Clement V., and the plain inscription which
marked his grave is now in the portico, Pius IX. having
erected to him a more elaborate monument in the left
aisle. In the left transept are the monuments of
Cardinal d'Alen9on, ob. 1403, with an altar to SS. Philip
and James erected by him close by ; and that of Car-
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 295
dinal Stefaneschi, of the same century. Robert, first
Duke Altemps, and prefect of Sixtus V.'s troops,
ob. 1586, is also buried in the church ; also the painters
Lanfranco and Giro Ferri, Giovanni Bottari the Vatican
librarian and canon of the church, ob, 1775, and many
others.
The portico which precedes the church, upon four Portico,
columns of dark granite, contains many inscriptions,
both pagan and Christian, collected during the recent
restorations. Here also is the sepulchral urn of two
Cardinals Campeggio, one of whom was Legate under
Leo X., and was sent to Henry VHI. of England.
Among the inscriptions one which was found under the
floor of the church is to Mar^a a priest, who during
the disastrous years of the Gothic war, '* relieved the
public misery," and practically governed Rome during
the absence of Pope Vigilius. He died in 555. The
slab which bears the inscription had already served as
the sepulchral stone of a " scribe " ob. a.d. 451.
The mosaic on the fa9ade of the church represents Fa9ade
the Madonna and Child, with 10 virgins bearing vases
of oil ; beneath, the kneeling figures of two donors.
It is probable that these mosaics are of the time of
Innocent II., and were restored by Pietro Cavallini in
the XIV. century. The two donors would then be
Innocent II. and Eugenius III., who completed his
work. The mosaics have been several times restored.
S. Maria in Trastevere is a parish church, and gives
its title to a cardinal priest. It also has a chapter of
canons, who in 1592 were granted the privilege of
wearing the rochet. For S. Callistus, see p. 205.
Feast day. — September 8.
The Station is on the 3rd Thursday in Lent.
8. MASIA IN VALLICELLA takes its name from the
region of low ground upon which it is built, now the
new Corso Vittorio Emanuele. It is situated in the
contrada of the Parione, so called from the ruins of an
immense wall which was used as the substructure for
the left wall of the present church. The old church of '
S. Maria was given to S. Philip Neri by Gregory XIII.,
296 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Chapels :
Right
aisle.
Right
transept.
High
altar.
Left
transept.
Left aisle
and with the help of Cardinal and Bishop Cesi,
S. Philip rebuilt it, since when it has been known as
Chiesa Nuova. This was in 1575. The adjoining
monastery which was the house of the Oratorians and
contained the Vallicellian library, is now used as Courts
of Justice by the Italian Government. The church
was designed by Giov. da Citta di Castello, the interior
by Martino Lunghi and Borromini. The roof of the
nave, the tribune vault and cupola were painted by
Pietro da Cortona. The church is a large one and
the interior is richly decorated, it contains paintings
of interest, which are however, difficult to see well
owing to the bad light.
The chapels are as follows : In the first to the right,
a Crucifixion by Scipione Gaetano. In the second, a
Deposition by Caravaggio. In the third, an Ascen-
sion by Muziano.
The chapel in the right transept contains a Corona-
tion of the Madonna by d' Arpino, and two statues of
S. John Evangelist and Baptist, by Vacca. Beyond
is the Spada chapel, with a picture by Maratta. The
three paintings in the choir are by Rubens ; repre-
senting the Virgin over the high altar ; to the right
and left : S. Dominic, S. Nereus and S. Achilleus,
and S. Gregory with SS. Maurus and Papias.
The chapel to the left of the high altar contains the
body of S. Philip ; above the altar stands a mosaic
copy of Guido's picture in the Vatican.
The chapel in the left transept has an altar-piece by
Baroccio.
In the fourth chapel in the left aisle is a Visitation
by the same painter, and in the first, the Purification by
d' Arpino.
A statue of S. Philip by Algardi stands in the
sacristy. The ceiling here is also painted by Pietro
da Cortona. Beyond are stairs, which lead to the
room used by S. Philip, which still contains many
objects belonging to him. Cardinal Baronius is buried
in this church.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 297
S. MARIA IN VIA, at the extremity of the Via Tritone
Nuova, is generally said to date from the xiii. cen-
tury, but is in fact, older than this, as it is mentioned
in a document as early as 1165. The story of its
origin is as follows : Cardinal Capocci found a picture
of the Madonna miraculously floating upon the sur-
face of a well in his palace ; he thereupon built a
church in which to place the image. As this was in
1256, it is probable that he only rebuilt an already
existing edifice. The well of his palace was included
in the new building, and until the time of Alexander VII .
was believed to contain a stone from the well of
Samaria. The older church faced the Via Flaminia,
the original level of which, as recent excavations have
shown, was 6 metres lower than the present Corso, and
it derived its name from this great street, which was
commonly called the " Via." S. Maria was parochial
until 1452, and in 1549 was almost entirely rebuilt.
It contains a chapel of the old Bufalo family, and in the
middle ages many noble Roman families were buried
within it.
S. MABIA IN VIA LATA in the Corso, and beside the
palace of the Pamfili-Doria, takes its name from the
ancient Roman street upon which it is built. The
origin of this church is uncertain, and tradition asserts
that it stands upon the site of the house where S. Paul
lived while in Rome, and where he wrote the Epistle
to the Hebrews.* In support of this tradition, por-
tions of Roman masonry of the first centuries have
been found beneath the church at the original level of
the Via Lata, and these were used to form a Christian
oratory,! at least as early as the viii. century. Upon
the walls of this ancient oratory, which is now sub-
terranean, can still be seen faint traces of painting :
some angels, and a saint wearing a nimbus.
The Church of S. Maria is mentioned under Leo III.
* It is said by Martinelli and others to have been the first
church founded by S. Peter in Rome.
t See S. Paul, p. 121.
298 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
(795) and Benedict III. (855). It is said to have
, been first built by Pope Sylvester, and was certainly
restored by Sergius I. in 700, and by Innocent VIII.
(1484). The tribune was added by Urban VIII., and
the church was again restored by Alexander VII. in
1662, when the nave pillars were cased with Sicilian
jasper, and a new fa9ade was erected from Pietro
da Cortona's designs. The interior however, retains
its basilica form. Over the high altar is an ancient
painting of the Madonna, which is much venerated by
the people. The chapel at the end of the left aisle is
dedicated to S. Ciriaca and S. Nicholas, and contains
many relics placed here by Leo IX. in the xi. century.
The church was at one time possessed by the nuns of
S. Ciriaca from the adjoining convent. Nicholas V.
attached to it a chapter of 9 canons. It is parochial,
and gives its title to a cardinal.
8. MABIA DELIA VITTORIA stands upon the site of an
ancient church dedicated to S. Paul, and beside which
was a little building which served as a refuge for the
street sellers in bad weather, at a time when this region
was all waste land.* This church was destroyed by
Paul V. (1605) and replaced by another, also dedicated
to. the apostle, and a monastery for Carmelite monks
was established beside it. Shortly after an image of
the Madonna was brought to it from Germany, after
the victories of Maximilian Duke of Bavaria. From
this time the church was called S. Maria della Vittoria.
It was newly decorated with rich marbles and stucco
at the expense of Prince Torlonia, and from designs of
Chapels. Maderno. The fa9ade was added by the architect
Soria. In the second chapel on the right is a painting
of the Madonna and S. Francis, and some frescoes by
Domenichino. Beyond, in the left transept, is a statue
of S. Theresa in ecstasy by Bernini. In the third
chapel on the left a Trinity by Guercino, and a copy
of Guido's Crucifixion, now in the possession of the
Duke of Northumberland.
* Bruzio, Theatnim Romano' Urbis, vii.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 299
In digging the foundations of this church, the Her-
maphrodite now in the Louvre was found. The
original image of the Madonna brought from Germany
was destroyed by fire in 1833, and has been replaced
by the present one. A part of the adjoining convent
is now an agricultural college.
8. MABIA EGIZIACA.— This beautiful little building
near the Ponte Rotto is an ancient temple said to
have been dedicated to Fortuna Virilis, and which was
converted into a church in 872 under Pope John VIII.
It was originally built by Servius Tullius, was
destroyed by fire, and again rebuilt during the Re-
publican period. It is of tufa and travertine, overlaid
with stucco, and the ground around it has now been
reduced to the original level, laying bare the base of
travertine upon which it stands. The columns of the
portico now walled in, were originally free. The
columns of the sides, of the Ionic order, support an
entablature decorated with heads of oxen, festoons,
and figures of children, now scarcely visible.
The church was conferred upon the Armenian nation
by Pius V. in 1571, and was restored by Clement XI.
(1700), with the annexed hospice for Armenian
pilgrims. The Armenians have been removed to
S. Biagio in Via Giulia, and the church of S. Maria
Egiziaca, which had received this title from them, is
now under the care of a confraternity.
Over the high altar is a picture of the titular saint
by Federico Zucchero. To the left on entering is a
model of the Chapel of the Sepulchre at Jerusalem.
This church is not open except on Sunday morning
between 10.30 and 11.30. The feast day is kept on
April 8.
MAET OP EOYPT.-The legend concerning this saint is
much more ancient than that about Mary Magdalene.
It was current and committed to writing in the vi. cen-
tury. The story that a female anchorite named Mary,
lived and died near the river Jordan, and there be-
300 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
wailed her sins in solitude for many years, and was
accidentally discovered, rests on ancient tradition and
is supported by contemporary evidence. In its present
form the legend is attributed to Jerome.''' " Towards
the year of our Lord 365," we are told, there dwelt in
Alexandria a beautiful woman of evil life. When she
retired to the desert she was supported for 47 years
upon 3 small loaves, which were miraculously provided
each day. She was discovered by a priest called
Zosimus. She is represented in art wasted, aged and
meagre, in her hand 3 loaves. She can be distin-
guished from Mary Magdalene, who is represented
young, and with a skull or crucifix in her hand. In
representations of the death of Mary of Egypt, a lion
is introduced, which according to the legend, helped
Zosimus to bury her. She is a favourite saint with
the French.
8. MARTINA. — The original church of S. Martina in
the Forum, was built some time in the vi. century,
upon the ruins of a Roman edifice, which from at least
the previous "century was known as the Secretarmm
Senatus.
Under Leo III. (795) the church is called " in tribus
foris."f It was restored by Adrian I., and rebuilt by
Alexander IV. in 1255, who made it a parish and a
chapteral church. A long inscription records his work.
In 1588 Sixtus V. granted it to the Guild of Artists. :J
Under Urban VIII. the tomb of S. Martina was dis-
covered in the older building which had then become
subterranean, and this induced him to rebuild the church
once more, from the designs of Pietro da Cortona. The
lower basilica, which stands at the level of the Forum
still exists, and contains a fine bronze altar beneath
which lies the body of the saint. Here also is a chapel
erected by Pietro da Cortona at his own expense, and
* Mrs. Jameson. " Sacred and Legendary Art."
t See p. 162.
i Hence the church is also called of S. Luca, and a feast is
kept here on October 18. See p. 190.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 301
here is still preserved an absurd inscription, dating
probably from the restorations of Urban VIII., stating
that one Gaudentius a Christian, was the architect of
the Colosseum. In the upper church in the left tran-
sept, is the first model of Thorwaldsen's statue of
Christ, and a painting of the Assumption by Conca.
Opposite is a figure of Religion by Canova ; there is
a statue of S. Martina under the high altar, by Guerini.
The celebrated Procession of the " Candelora " upon
the day of the Purification used to start from this
church, for which see Part II.
Feast day. — January 30, when the lower church is illuminated
(until the time of Urban VIII., her ancient feast, January i, was
kept).
The life of mabtina, a Roman, and a martyr early
in the in. century, while Urban I. was pope, and
Alexander Severus emperor, is one of the most in-
teresting in the Roman martyrology. Martina was of
illustrious birth ; her beautiful early Hfe is told in her
" Acts," her contempt of worldly greatness and her
great charity. She was titular deaconess of the church,
where now rises the present building called after her,
and made many conversions by her preaching. Scorn-
ing the command to sacrifice to idols, she was so
barbarously tortured that the mere description is im-
possible. Finally she was thrown to the beasts in the
amphitheatre, who would not touch her, then cast on
a burning wheel, and afterwards decapitated. The
Roman legend has no images forcible enough for the
miraculous sense of power she expressed in enduring
these torments, and the wonderful effect on the mind
and conscience of the beholders. At her prayers, it
tells us, earthquakes were produced, fire fell from
heaven, the temples fell, the idols were broken. As
her blood flowed like a lake round her, her beauty was
marvellous to look upon, and a wonderful perfume ex-
haled from her ; and she was seen in holy converse
with the blessed singing the Divine praises. At last
when she was beheaded, a voice from heaven was
302 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
heard calling her, the whole city trembled, and many
idolaters were converted to Christ.
How many memories attach to that spot, ^'pervetusta
ejusdem ecclesia," " by Peter's prison, at the declivity of
the Capitol," where in what is said to be the most
magnificent of the churches within the city dedicated
to a martyr. Urban VIII, replaced Martina's body,
" with great concourse of the people " and " the
rejoicing of the whole city."
Martina, who was anciently called protectrix of
Rome, has a special hymn marked for her oflfice in the
Breviary : Martinie celebri plandite nomini : Gives Romulei,
plaudite gloria : Insignem mentis dicite Virginem : Christi
dicite martyrem.'^-
S. HABTINO AI MONTI, or "in Thermis," is an in-
teresting church upon the slope of the Esquiline, built
in the first years of the " Peace " upon the ruins of
the Baths of Trajan. It was then known as Titulus
Equitii, from the name of the owner of the land upon
which it stood. Later, the name Titulus S. Silvestri
was substituted for the more primitive appellation, its
foundation being attributed to this pope, and in 324 a
synod was convened by him in this church. The
original building, of which fine portions still remain,
was built at the level of the baths, much lower there-
fore, than the present edifice. In the v. century a
second church was built above by Pope Symmachus,
which he dedicated to S. Martin of Tours and S. Syl-
vester, and to this were removed the decorations of
the older building. As time went on, this latter became
subterranean, and was hidden and forgotten until once
* Renan, writing of the early persecutions, says " The horrible
tortures of the Roman law were applied in all their rigour." The
Christian regarded as humilior and even as infamous, was punished
by the cross, beasts, fire, stripes. " The distinction between the
simple fact of being a Christian, and the crimes connected with
it, was forgotten." Christianus sum, " I am a Christian,'/ was a
signal which might bring with it death. " Dans I'application de
la question, les juges portaient un complet arbitraire et parfois
une veritable perversion d'idees " (" Marc-Aurile ").
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 303
more discovered in the xvii. century by Antonio Filip-
pini, the general of the CarmeHtes of the adjoining
convent. The church of Symmachus was decorated
with frescoes under Leo IV. (847-855), who also covered
the tribune with mosaics, and this pope gave the church
and convent to the Benedictines. In the xiii. century
it was restored by Innocent III., but up to the xvi.
century its primitive type was preserved, and it still
contained two marble ambones, with the inscription : ^
" Salvo Domhto nostra heatissimo Sergio papa ivniore,"
the use of the word salvo showing that the work was
undertaken during the lifetime of Pope Sergius (687-
701). Another inscription of the same epoch, and
formerly in the apse, is still preserved in the lower
church. In the xiii. century the church passed to
the Carmelite order. Under Pius IV. it was again
restored, and a new roof added by Carlo Borromeo.
The fa9ade was built in 1676, and the titular cardinal
of the time undertook more restoration in 1780. The Interior.
24 ancient pillars of the nave still remain. The High High
Altar is decorated with rich marbles, and beneath two Altar,
flights of steps lead to the confession, where are pre-
served relics of Pope Sylvester and S. Martin. Upon
the walls of the aisles are a series of 6 frescoes by Aisles.
Grimaldi of Bologna, and Gaspar and Nicholas Poussin.
In the left aisle 2 frescoes represent the interior of old
S. Peter's and of the Lateran. The subterranean church
is reached from the confession. It has a fine mosaic Lower
pavement of black and white marble, and traces of Church,
paintings still exist upon the walls. In the middle
ages the pavement of the church was restored with
slabs of stone taken from the catacombs. Some of
these still remain ; others, among them 3 pieces of a
Damasian inscription, in which the name of Filocalus
appears, are now preserved in the Lateran Museum.
Sixtus IV. (1471-1484) established 2 Stations in
this basilica : one on the feast day of S. Sylvester, and
on that of S. Martin, December 31 and November 11.
The church has again been undergoing restorations to
304 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
its roof, and the houses around it have been cleared
away to make a new thoroughfare.
It is open for the Station on the 5th Thursday in Lent.
For S. Martin, see Part III. of this Handbook.
SS. NEBEO E ACHILLEO. — This beautiful little church
on the present Via di S. Sebastiano near the baths of
Caracalla, is one of the best preserved of the smaller
Roman basilicas. This we owe in great measure to
Cardinal Baronius the historian, who while its titular,
restored it himself after the ancient plan, and left an
inscription imploring his successors, " for the glory of
God " and " the merits of these martyrs," not to re-
move anything from it, or to alter it in any way :
Presbyter card, successor quisquis fueris
Rogo te per gloriam Dei et
Per merita horum martyrum
Nihil demito nihil minuito nee mutato
Restitutam antiquitatem pie servato.
This inscription is to the right of the episcopal chair
in the apse.*
" Vous serez emu par la simplicite, par I'elegance,
par I'austfere et mystique beaute de cette architecture,"
writes Batiffol of this basilica. Its origin has been
attributed to Leo III. (795-816), but it is in reality con-
siderably older than this. Under its primitive name
of Titulus Fasciola, we find it mentioned in 499, when
its priest subscribed to the synod of Symmachus,
summoned in that year. Earlier, Leo I. confided to
its priest and deacon some repairs of the basilica on
the Via Ostia (S. Paolo), and De Rossi has also dis-
covered in this same basilica an epitaph to a lector
tituli Fasciolce who died in 337.! The passage in the
Liber PontificaHs which had led to the view that
Leo III. was the founder of this basilica referred in
reality to another basilica built over the catacomb
upon the Via Ardeatina, the ruins of which have only
lately been discovered, and which was therefore quite
* To the spectator's left is a list of the relics preserved in this
church.
t De Rossi, Inscr. Christ., i. 831.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 305
unknown to early writers on the subject. (See Cata-
comb of Domitilla, Chapter X.)
The name fasciola seems to have been due to a tradi-
tion that upon the Via Ntiova (the present Via di S.
Sebastiano) a bandage (fascia) fell from S. Peter's
wounded foot as he fled from the Mamertine prisons.
The bandage was found and kept by a pious matron,
who afterwards erected the basilica upon the site.
This is told in the " Acts " of SS. Processus and Mar-
tinianus, which are of the v. century. It is not
known at what period the ancient " Titulus Fasciolae "
was called SS. Nereo e Achilleo. The remains of
these saints, removed from the catacomb on the Ardea-
tina, were kept first in the basilica of S. Adriano, but
there is no doubt that some local memory attached to
them on the Via Nuova, where they were venerated
as early as the vi. century. In the xii. century the
titidus Fasciola was one of the most important in Rome.
Later, it fell into a ruinous condition, and was restored
by Sixtus IV. (1471). It was repaired once again by
Cardinal Baronius and given to the Oratorians, who
still possess it.
The basilica has a nave and two aisles separated by Interior.
8-sided pilasters. The ancie'nt cosmatesque pavement
still exists in the presbytery. The choir also remains
enclosed with a marble balustrade, and flanked by
the two ambones. It does not here extend beyond
the presbytery, it is entered by a double flight of
steps. The ambones, balustrade and confession are
decorated with cosmatesque mosaic and marble carving.
This last is not now accessible in the usual way.
The canopy of the high altar stands upon four pillars of
African marble, beneath lie the relics of the two titular
saints ; a marble candelabrum stands before the altar.
The mosaics of the apse have unfortunately perished ;
those upon the face of the arch are of the time of
Leo III. (795-816). They represent the Transfigura-
tion ; the Redeemer in a white tunic stands between
Moses and Elias ; three disciples, with the initials of
3o6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
their names beside them, are prostrate at His feet,
hiding their faces beneath their mantles. On either side
are : the Annunciation (to the left), and the Madonna
enthroned, attended by an angel. The episcopal chair
is of great interest, being that from which S. Gregory
read his 28th Homily on the Gospels. The homily
itself is inscribed here, and an ugly modem fresco
above, represents the scene. The aisles are decorated
with frescoes df the martyrdoms of the apostles.
The church is rarely open.
Feast day. — May 12.
The Station is on the 4th Wednesday in Lent.
For the two saints, see p. 518.
S. NICCOLb IN CABCEBE. — This ancient diaconal church
is built upon the ruins of two Roman temples ; that of
Piety, which stood in the Forum Olitorium, now Piazza
Montanara, and another said to be that of Hope, or of
Juno Matuta. A wall composed of slabs oi peperino, be-
longing to these temples, may still be seen forming
the left side of the church. Two of the columns are
walled up in the fa9ade, and beneath the church are
fine substructions of peperino. In the middle ages
these vaults were supposed to be part of the prisons
of Tullius, and we find the church called "in Carcere
Tulliano."* It seems possible that a prison of some
sort did exist in the vicinity, and that this is alluded
to in the Liber Pontificalis of Adrian I.
FeUx IV. (526) and Boniface IV. (608) both restored
or rebuilt the basihca of S. Niccolo. Nicholas III.
(1277), who was its titular cardinal before his election
to the papacy, undertook further restorations. Finally,
in 1599, its style was altered to suit modern tastes by
Giacomo della Porta, and in this century it has once
more been gorgeously decorated. Fortunately the
ancient pillars of the nave have been retained. Under
the modern canopy of the high altar is a fine green
basalt urn, containing the rehcs of SS. MarcelHnus,
Beatrice, and Faustinus. The confession beneath was
• An inscription of 1240 is as follows : "James, Cardinal Deacon,
of S. Niccolo in Carcere TuUiano."
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 307
originally decorated with frescoes, all of which have
perished. Two Christian inscriptions of interest are
still preserved in the confession, one of which was cut
upon the base of an ancient altar : " Pax tecum Felix.''
Other inscriptions, of gifts made to the church in 1088
and in the ix. century, are attached to the right wall
and to the first pillar. Some xiii. century sepulchral
slabs have also been retained. S. Niccolo has had a
chapter of canons since the ix. or x. century. It is
also a parish church. It is open for the Station on
the 5th Saturday in Lent.
Feast day. — December 6.
8. HicHOLAB OF BAsi was Bishop of Myra, and died
in 326. He is the chief patron of Russia, and is a
saint of the people and of mariners. He was held in
great reverence in the East as early as the vi. century,
but was little known in the West before the x. He
was born in Asia Minor of illustrious Christian parents,
whose wealth he inherited at an early age. As a child
he was remarkable among other children for his gravity
and sanctity. Later he was ordained a priest, and
became Bishop of Myra. Innumerable stories are told
of S. Nicholas, who was beloved by all, for his virtues
and his boundless charity. One of the best known is
that of his charity to a father reduced to such desperate
poverty that no way seemed possible to save his three
daughters from starving except their sacrifice to an
infamous life. S. Nicholas hearing of this, secretly
threw in a purse of gold at the man's open window
for three successive nights. Nicholas dying in 326,
was buried in Myra, but in 1084 his body was stolen
by some Italian mariners and carried to Bari, where
a magnificent church was built in his honour by
Urban II. In art Nicholas is represented as a bishop
in magnificent robes and jewelled mitre. He wears a
short gray beard, and carries three balls to represent
the three purses of gold.
8. NICCOLO DA TOLENTIKO, in the street of the same
name, is now the church of the Armenian College. It
20 — 2
368 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Portico.
Interior.
Chapels
right.
was built about 1599 by a reformed order of Augus-
tinian Hermits, which moved there from S. Stefano
Rotondo. The church was restored from designs of
the Milanese Buzio in 1614, Prince Pamfili contri-
buting the funds. It contains some of the last work
of Pietro da Cortona, who decorated the Gavotta chapel,
the third on the left, dedicated to the Madonna of
Savona, and painted the frescoes of the vault. The
high altar is the work of Algardi.
Feast day. — September 10.
8. NICHOLAS or TOLENTiNo was bom near Fermo, about
1239, and died in 1309. He lived in Tolentino, as
an Augustinian friar, fervent, eloquent, unwearied,
noted for his visions. He never tasted animal food,
and a pretty legend tells that a dish of doves being
brought to him in his last illness, he reproved his
followers, rose painfully, stretched his hands over the
doves, and they flew away ! In art, S. Nicholas ap-
pears in a black habit, with a star on his breast, or
holding a gospel, or crucifix and lily intertwined.
8. ONOFBIO, on the Janiculum, was founded about
1434 by one Niccolo da Forca Palena, a hermit of
S. Jerome, and friend of the founder of the order. He
was assisted with funds by Eugenius IV. and the
Roman family of the De Cupis. A small convent was
attached to the church for himself and his companions.
The church was declared a diaconate by Leo X., and
Sixtus V. made a more convenient road up to it, still
called " la Salita di S. Onofrio."
The church is preceded by a picturesque portico,
under which are lunettes painted by Domenichino,
with scenes in the life of S. Jerome, which have
unfortunately, suffered much from damp. At one end
is the small chapel del Rosario, now closed, containing
a picture by Bassano, and the tomb of the founder of
the order, Pietro Gambacorta of Pisa. The church
consists of a single nave, with two chapels on either
side. Immediately to the right is a larger chapel,
dedicated to S. Onofrio and to Blessed Niccolo the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 309
founder of the order, which is decorated by paintings
of an old school. The next chapel, of the Madonna of
Loreto, contains an altar-piece by Caracci. The tribune
behind the high altar is decorated with two sets of
frescoes, the lower ones from the cornice downwards,
by Baldassare Peruzzi ; those above by Pinturicchio, all
much spoiled by retouching. The lower represent the
Virgin and Child between four saints, S. Onofrio and
S. Jerome, S. Mary Magdalene, and the founder of the
church Niccolo. On either side are represented the
Nativity and the Flight into Egypt. Above this is
the Coronation, with attendant saints, the Sibyls in
four lunettes, and above again, five lunettes of angels.
On the right of the high altar is the n^onument to
Cardinal Sacco, ob. 1505, and a lunette of S. Anna and
the Virgin by Pinturicchio. .In the left aisle is a Left aisle,
memorial slab to Cardinal Mezzafante, and the tomb
of Blessed Niccolo. In the first chapel on this side,
dedicated to S. Jerome, the modern monument to
Tasso has been erected by Pius IX., who removed the
remains of the poet here from the entrance.
The adjoining monastery and cloisters have been
partly destroyed to make room for the new drive across
the Janiculum, and only three or four monks are
allowed by the Italian Government to remain as cus-
todians of the church. In part of the cloisters can still
be seen frescoes of the life of S. Onofrio, painted by
Cav. d' Arpino. In an upper gallery is a beautiful
lunette of the Madonna and Child, with the kneeling
figure of the donor, by Leonardo da Vinci. The room
inhabited by Tasso, and where he died, is still pre-
served, with some manuscripts and some of his pos-
sessions, and a mask taken of his face. In the old
convent garden, now part of the new drive, the remains
of Tasso's oak under which he used to sit and meditate,
still stand. This was one of the favourite haunts of
S. Philip Neri and his youths, and here the Academy
of " Arcadia " used to hold its summer meetings.
There is no place in all Rome where such a beautiful
3IO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
view of the city, with the Sabine and Alban mountains
behind it, can be obtained.
Feast day. — June 12.
B. oNOFEio (HONTTFHBiuB) was a monk of Thebes, who
for 60 years lived in a cave, seeing no one, speak-
ing no word, and clad in a garment of leaves. Here
he was found by another holy man, who was with him
when he died, and after his death buried the body and
carried the fame of the sanctity of S. Onofrio to the
towns. S. Onofrio is often the patron of convents.
In art he appears as an old man, with long hair and
wearing a garment of leaves.
s. FANCBAZIO, near the Villa Pamfili and outside
Porta S. Pancrazio, is generally attributed to Pope
Symmachus (498-514), but it is more probable that he
rebuilt or restored a basilica already existing upon the
spot, over the catacombs of Octa villa and Calepodius.
In the VII. century it was again restored by Honorius I.,
who removed to its altar the bodies of the martyrs
from the cemetery beneath. Inscriptions of this epoch
referring to the church have been preserved in the
Lateran museum. It was at this date administered
by the priests of S. Crisogono.
Adrian I. again made additions to the basilica, and
built the adjoining monastery which was dedicated to
S. Victor. In the x. century Crescentius the great
ruler of Rome, was murdered near this church and
was buried within it, though his epitaph no longer
exists. Here in 1205 Peter of Aragon took his
vows of allegiance to Innocent III. Unfortunately,
this interesting basilica suffered severely in 1849 when
fighting took place all round it, and it was greatly
damaged by fire and shot. A single column of the
nave, a few pieces of the mosaic decorations of the
ambones of the xi. century, and some fragments of
inscriptions from the catacombs among the pavement
slabs, are all that remain of the ancient church, which
has been rebuilt in the worst style. In 1798 the relics
of the martyr S. Pancratius were removed from their
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 311
shrine under the high altar. Two flights of steps lead
from the church to the catacombs beneath.
Feast day. — May 12.
The Station is on Low Sunday.
For catacomb of Octavilla, and account of S. Pancrazio, see
Chapter X.
THE PANTHEON, S. MAEIA AD MAETYEES.— We owe the
preservation of this beautiful building to its consecra-
tion as a church by Boniface IV. in May 604-610, It
was then dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and all the
martyrs, and it is said that 28 waggon-loads of bones
from the catacombs were placed beneath the altar.
Here was celebrated the first feast day of the Virgin
upon the octave of Christmas, the Station being still held
on January i, the ancient Roman feast of the Madonna.
The history and origin of the Pantheon is still a
matter of controversy. It stood amidst a magnificent
group of marble buildings all of which have perished —
the baths of Agrippa, the stadium of Domitian, the
theatre of Pompey, the temple of Minerva, and was
long held to be the calidarium of the baths. It is
now evident that this was not the case. The Pantheon
was built about the year 25, some 7 years before the
opening of the baths and the laying of the water
conduits, and appears to have been an independent
building, designed for a temple from its origin. It was
dedicated to Mars, Venus, and the deified Caesars, and
not to Cybele, as is often asserted. In the niches of
its interior stood statues of the gods. These niches
were utilized by Michael Angelo in the xvi. century,
who designed upon them a type of Christian altar
adopted throughout Rome. The portico was added
by Agrippa some years after the construction of the
main building, and w-ithin it stood figures of himself
and of Augustus. In a.d. 59 we learn that the Fratres
Arvales assembled in the Pantheon for their solemn
sacrifice to Dia, and in their tables it is first called by
the name Pantheon.
Scarcely more than the husk remains to us of this
312 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
beautiful monument of old Rome. Pillage by her
invaders and the rapacity of her rulers have left us
nothing but the bare walls. The white marble coating
of the exterior is gone. Already in the vii. century
the bronze ceiling of the portico had been stripped off for
the silver which decorated it ; and under Urban VIII.
the baldacchino of S. Peter's and 80 pieces of cannon
were cast from the bronze beams and tiles of the roof.
This same pope restored some of the pillars of the
portico, and added two absurd steeples, thenceforth
called asses' ears. These are now removed. The
transformation was made complete in 1747, when
Paolo Posi the architect, took away all the marble
decorations from the interior. A legend of the middle
ages asserts that the dome of the Pantheon was not
built upon scaffolding, but upon a solid mound of
earth, which was afterwards carted away from beneath
it. In spite of its noble beauty and impressiveness,
the Pantheon must appear to visitors ill-suited for a
church. Behind the third chapel to the left Raphael
is buried. Opposite is the tomb of Victor Emmanuel.
We enter the building through the original bronze
doors. The soil was cleared away from the Piazza,
and it was reduced to its present level by Alex-
ander VII.*
8, PAOLO ALLA SE60LA is a very old church, perhaps
in origin linked with the preaching of Paul in Rome,
as it was erected on a spot which was one of the most
ancient Hebrew quarters. By tradition the church
was called Scuola di S. Paolo, and the district or con-
trada, was called Pauli, and is so mentioned in ancient
documents. The adjoining house and the church were
owned by the Reformed Augustinians until 1619. They
then passed into the hands of the Sicilian Franciscans,
who rebuilt the church from designs of Borgognoni.
In a visitation of 1566, the church is described as
" dark, damp, and badly paved." It still contains an
inscription of the year 1096, relating to some gifts
* See S. Peter's, p. 63 note.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 313
made to it by Urban II. Next to the convent is an
oratory, dedicated to James the Great, belonging to
the Guild of Hatters.
8. PIETEO IN CAECERE. — At the bottom of the steep
flight of stairs leading down from the Capitol, and
beneath the little church of S. Giuseppe de' Falegnami,
is the entrance to the famous Mamertine prisons, the
traditional site of S. Peter's imprisonment by Nero,
and now known as S. Pietro in Carcere. The first
mention of S. Peter having been imprisoned here is
found in the v. century " Acts " of SS. Processus et
Martinianus, these martyrs being there baptized by
Peter, and it is certain that the spot was publicly
venerated before the viii. century, when it is men-
tioned in the Einsiedeln Itinerary. An inscription still
exists upon the front of the building, stating that it
was restored in the reign of Tiberius, and there seems
little doubt that the lower of the two chambers which
constitute the little oratory is part of the original
Tulliamim mentioned by Festus, Livy, and Sallust as
the state prison for important offenders, and where
executions often took place. This lower chamber is
partly hewn out of the tufa of the Capitoline Hill, and
was originally only entered by an opening in its ceiling ;
it communicates with another gallery hewn out of the
rock, which is now blocked up. In the centre of this
chamber is a spring, which according to the legend,
sprang up miraculously that Peter might baptize his
gaolers. This chamber may have been constructed as
early as the time of the Tarquins, and its first use may
very possibly have been that of a well-house. The
chamber above is probably of the Republican period,
and is constructed of square blocks of tufa.
B. PIETEO IN MONTOEIO upon the Janiculum has been
in existence from the ix. century, but was rebuilt in
the XV. century by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
from designs of Baccio Pintelli. About this time the
legend arose that this was the site of Peter's martyrdom,
314 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL HOME
and the beautiful little circular temple was accordingly
erected in the atrium of the adjoining monastery, over
the spot where it was alleged the end of the cross had
been fixed. The temple built upon the golden sand
of the Janiculum was designed by Bramante. S. Pietro
was declared a titular church by Sixtus V. in 1605,
and in the same year PhiHp III. of Spain strengthened
the hill with masonry and constructed the piazza in
front, beneath which stretches a panorama of Rome.
The adjoining monastery was in the xiv. century
occupied by Celestine monks, then by Franciscans.
The building suffered much during the siege of Rome
in 1849, when its campanile and tribune were destroyed.
Chapels The interior consists of a single nave without aisles,
right. with 4 chapels on either side. The jfirst chapel on
the right is decorated by Sebastiano del Piombo. The
principal frescoes represent : the Flagellation ; on the
roof the Transfiguration ; on either side S. Peter and
S. Francis; on the arch outside a Prophet and a
Sibyl. The second chapel on this side is painted by
pupils of Perugino. In the fourth chapel, the Con-
version of Paul is by Vasari, and the marble monu-
ments in the same chapel are by Ammanati.
In the choir behind the high altar Raphael's Trans-
figuration used to stand, now replaced by a copy of
Guido's Crucifixion of Peter.
Left. In the left aisle, the fifth chapel of S. John Baptist
is decorated by Francesco Salviati, and has an altar-
piece by D. da Volterra. The paintings of the next
chapel have been attributed to Vandyke. In the first
chapel on this side is a fresco of S. Francis receiving
the stigmata by Giov. de' Vecchio. This church
contains to the left of the high altar the unmarked
grave of Beatrice Cenci, and the xvii. century tombs
of two Irishmen, Baron Dungannon and the Earl of
Tyrconnel.
S. PIETEO IN VINCOLI, Cipon the Esquiline, is the
original Titulus Eudoxiana founded by Eudoxia daughter
of Theodosius and wife of Valentinian III. in which
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 315
to preserve the chains which her mother had brought
back with her from a pilgrimage in Palestine. These
chains said to have bound S. Peter while in prison in
Jerusalem, Eudoxia gave to Leo I., and with those
said to have been used in Peter's captivity in Rome
under Nero, they were placed in the basilica built by
Eudoxia about the year a.d. 442, and have ever since
been there venerated. The basilica was called S. Pietro
in Vincoli although dedicated to both Apostles, as
appears in an inscription formerly upon the door of
the church. It was restored by Adrian I. (771) and
again in the xv. and xvi. centuries, when its ancient
character was lost, and it was decorated in the worst
taste of that epoch. From this time it has belonged
to the Canons regular of the Lateran.
The 22 ancient columns of the nave with Doric
capitals still remain in the church.
To the right on entering, is a painting of S. Augus- Right
tine by Guercino, and beyond this chapel the tombs ^^^^^
designed by Domenichino, of two cardinals. In the
second chapel is a copy of Domenichino's Deliverance
of Peter. Beyond this is a portion of the colossal
monument designed by Michael Angelo for Julius II.,
which was to be placed in S. Peter's, and was to be
on so enormous a scale that the size of the tribune of
the new S. Peter's was planned with this end in
view. The execution of the monument was sub-
jected to a series of vicissitudes, of quarrels between
the pope and Michael Angelo, followed by the death
of Juhus II. and then of the artist, with the result
that only a small portion of it was ever completed, to
be relegated to this obscure and disadvantageous posi-
tion in S. Pietro in Vincoli, while the body of Julius II.
shares a grave with that of Sixtus IV. in a chapel in
S. Peter's, the fact being recorded upon a simple marble
stone. The figure of Moses and those of Religion
and Virtue, or of Rachel and Leah as some consider
them, are those placed in the church of S. Pietro in
Vincoli. Two other figures are in the Louvre, and
3i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
another in the Boboli at Florence of the 30 or 40
which formed part of the original design. The prophet
Elias beside the Moses is also by Michael Angelo,
the Sibyl by Raphael da Montelupo ; the figure of the
pope is by Maso dal Bosco, and the group above by
Scherano da Settignano,
Tribune. Beyond this monument is a chapel with an altar-
piece of S. Margaret by Guercino. The vault of the
tribune was painted by Coppi, a Florentine. The high
altar is modem. In the confession beneath, where
traditionally were preserved the relics of the Seven
Maccabees, was discovered in 1876 under the floor, a
IV. century sarcophagus containing human ashes in
seven separate compartments, and an inscription upon
lead to the effect that here were the ashes and bones
of the seven brothers Maccabee. To the right of the
tribune arch is the monument of Clovio, the xvi.
century miniature-painter and canon of the church.
In the apse an ancient episcopal throne is preserved.
Left aisle. On the left, over the third altar, stands an interesting
mosaic of S. Sebastian dated 680, the most ancient
representation of this saint known after that in the
catacomb of Callistus. The saint is represented
bearded. The mosaic originally formed part of a
votive altar erected after a plague in this year.
An antique inscription of 532 once in the pavement,
is now attached to the left wall of the church under
the organ.
In this basilica are monuments to the metal-workers,
the brothers Pollaiuolo of the xiv. century ; of Cardinal
di Cusa of the xv. century, and of Cardinal Aldobran-
dini nephew of Clement VIII.
The chains of Peter are kept in a bronze tabernacle
worked by Pollaiuolo, in the sacristy. Here also is a
picture by Domenichino of Peter's deliverance.
The adjoining monastery and residence for the car-
dinal titular were designed by San Gallo ; they are
now used as a physical laboratory and school. The
well in the cloisters is supposed to be the work of
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 317
Michael Angelo. John II., in 532, and Gregory
VII., in 1074, were elected to the papacy in this
basilica.
Feast days. — June 29, and of S. Peter's chains August i.
The Station is on the ist Monday in Lent.
smoN PETER is the most frequently mentioned of all
the Apostles, and appears in a far larger number of
scenes with his divine Master. These scenes, and The sym-
both the praises and the warnings he received from bolical
Christ, are understood to have constituted a continual character
education of Peter, an allegory of the Church's history thin-^s re-
in the world, an object lesson for his successors. How corded of
often when the Church has been in troubles have the S. Peter,
popes said that Christ was asleep in the Bark of Peter !
And Peter's boat has become symbolic of the Ship of
the Church, because Christ chose his boat from which
to teach the multitude.
The titles Christ bestows on this one apostle dif- The
ferentiate him from all the others : hence he is the Gospel
Fisherman (Piscator), the Shepherd (Pastor), the Key- pefej.
Bearer (" Claviger ").
The reproaches administered to Peter are equally The
typical : " O thou of httle faith, wherefore didst thou rebukes,
doubt ?" and when they were gone up into the
boat, the wind ceased. " Go after me, Satan, thou
art a stumbling-block to me ; for thou dost not mind
the things of God, but the things of men." Six days
later, Peter makes the well-intentioned but foolish
suggestion to build 3 tabernacles : " Lord, it is good
for us to be here." During the Passion the typical s. Peter
nature of Christ's dealings with Peter appears in every during the
scene. Here too He rebukes their wrangling as to Passion,
who shall be greatest and chief; the last and most
solemn of these rebukes. He tells Simon " Satan
asked to have^ you (the disciples), that he might sift
you as wheat ;' but I have prayed for thee (Peter) that
thy faith fail not." The scenes in Gethsemane are of
the. same character (Matt., xxvi. 37 ; John xiii. 36, 37).
It is to Peter He says " Simon, sleepest thou ?
sion.
318 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Couldst thou not watch with me one hour ?" It is to
Peter, who had defended Him with the sword that
He says " All they that take the sword shall perish
with the sword."* Peter runs away with the rest, but
" follows afar off." He denies Christ 3 times. His
bitter penitence follows, and hence he is represented
with the Magdalene as one of the 2 great penitents.
Peter is represented as believing the tale of the holy
women sufficiently to act on it, while it appeared as
" idle " in the sight of the others.
After the On the shore of Tiberias, Peter says to the rest
Resurrec- "I go a-fishing ;" "they say unto him: we also
'i°" come with thee." Peter asks concerning John "Lord,
and what shall this man do ?" and is answered in the
wonderful words " What is that to thee ? Follow
thou me."
After the Peter in every case speaks for and answers for his
Ascen- brethren (Acts i. 15, 16 ; ii. 14, 37, 38 ; iv. 8, 9 ; v. 3,
29). In chapter xii. of the Acts, Peter is imprisoned,
and his shackles taken off and he delivered by an
angel ; a subject as beautiful in art as it is simply told
in the Acts.
Two other incidents must be recorded : It is Peter
who asks " How often shall my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him ? until seven times ?" and is
answered " I say not unto thee until seven times, but
until seventy times seven." The other incident is
Christ paying the tribute for Himself and for Peter A
It is remarkable that in two cases John, type of the
* The incident in Luke xxii. 38 where Christ says on being
told there are 2 swords " It is enough," has been taken to repre-
sent the right of the Church, understood as the hierarchy, to the
use of the spiritual and the temporal swords. A feeble piece of
criticism, considering the rebuke quoted above. " It is enough "
appears to have signified "We want none," and the apostles'
suggestion of 2 swords to have been another error of understand-
ing, as in the parable about leaven and bread :' Christ had just
said : " But now let him that hath a cloke sell it and buy a sword ;"
which was merely parabolic.
t The tribute was a didrachma, and Christ paid a stater which
is 2 didrachmas.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 31 (>
beloved follower of his Lord, is first to recognise Him
or to arrive, but Peter is the first to act, John recog-
nises the Lord on the water : "It is the Lord," but
Peter casts himself into the waters to go to Him.
John arrives first at the sepulchre, " outstripping
Peter," but Peter goes into the tomb.
For S. Peter, refer also to Chapters IV. and X., and for the
festivals concerning him to Part II.
8. PEA88EDE. — This is one of the most ancient titular
churches in Rome, and is mentioned in the Acts of
Symmachus' council a.d. 499. An inscription has
been found relating to the sale of a tomb in the Tituliis
Praxedis in a.d. 491. It is said to have been built on
the site of the house of Praxedis (Prassede) daughter
of Pudens, contemporary of Peter ; and the origin of
the titulus may be traced apparently to the apostolic
age.
Old S. Prassede was in ruins in the ix. century :
Eccksiam etenim beatissima Christi Martyris Praxedis quce
quondam a priscis adificata temporibus, nimia Jam lassata
senio. " The church of the most blessed martyr of Christ
Praxedis, which was built in primitive times was now
exceedingly ruinous from age." Paschal I. determined
to rebuild it, " for his great sentiment of veneration
for the aforesaid holy martyr of Christ Praxedis " ; he
had himself been titular presbyter of this church. It
was built on the original plan, 3 chapels being added :
one to S. John the Baptist, one to S. Zeno, and one
behind the apse to S. Agnes of which there is now no
trace. He also erected a monastery, dedicated to the
Virgin Praxedis, and placed there a Greek congrega-
tion* of monks, " who day and night honoured God in
Greek psalmody and prayed for those there buried."
The church is close to S. Maria Maggiore, and its
monastery was one of those attached to this basilica.
Innocent III. gave it to the Vallombrosians (1198-
12 16) who have possessed it ever since. The greater
* Sanctum Grtuorum Congregationem . Lib. Pont, in Paschal! .
320 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
part of the building is now a barrack, but a few monks
with an abbot still occupy the remainder.
This basilica has unhappily suffered much from
modern restoration. It retains however its beautiful
campanile of the ix. century, which is decorated on
the inside with frescoes of the same date, long supposed
to represent the life of S. Agnes. They have now been
shown by Signor Armellini who has examined them
with the utmost difficulty owing to their perished
condition, to represent the martyrdoms of Celso and
Giuliano, Chrysanthus and Daria, Hilaria and Maurus,'*'
and other martyrs whose relics were removed to the
church by Pope Paschal. The church has also a
quaint portico on ancient pillars at the main entrance,
now seldom used. We now enter by a side door in
the little street Via di S. Prassede, opening on to the
right aisle.
Interior. In the xvi. century the church was restored in the
worst possible taste by S. Charles Borromeo, who was
its titular cardinal, so that it is scarcely possible to
realize when on the spot its great and important
memories. The ancient nave pillars remain, of gray
granite with composite capitals, 8 on either side, six
heavy piers being added to strengthen the roof.
Tribune . The tribune which has a double arch, still preserves
mosaics, its beautiful mosaics. On the face of the outer arch,
is the holy City of the Apocalypse : Christ in the
centre stands between 2 angels, Praxedis and Puden-
tiana on either side of him ; angels guard its gates,
while a crowd of the just, stand round the city on either
hand, bearing palms and wreaths. On the face of the
inner arch, is the Lamb, with 2 angels on either hand,
and the signs of the 4 Evangelists. Below are 24 elders
clothed in white, 1 2 on each side, referring to Apocalypse
V. 6, 9.
In the apse itself, the mosaics represent Christ
standing between 6 saints. On His right stand Paul
and Praxedis, Paul's arm resting on her shoulder ;
• The martyrs of the catacomb /o^-ianoz-Kt/; .
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 321
next to them is Pope Paschal, wearing the square blue
nimbus, and carrying the church in his hand. On
the Redeemer's left stand Peter and Pudentiana,
Peter's arm resting on Pudentiana's shoulder ; and
next to them stands the martyr Zeno. At their feet
runs the river Jordan ; and beneath this is the throned
lamb, with the 12 sheep issuing from the 2 mystic
cities. Paschal's inscription, stating that he built this
church in honour of Praxedis, and placed in it the
bodies of many martyrs, runs beneath.
Beneath the High Altar is the confession, where rest
the bodies of Praxedis, Pudentiana, and others whose
relics were removed from the catacombs. The altar
with its hideous marble tabernacle, dates from 1730;
the white marble pillars of the choir ornamented with
foliage were erected by Borromeo. In the centre of
the nave is a well in which Praxedis is said to have
placed the bodies and the blood of the martyrs who
suffered on the Esquiline.
Near the main entrance to the right is an inscription Right
stating that the bodies of 2,300 martyrs are here de- ^^^le.
posited. Near this are 2 monuments to the Santa
Croce family of the xvi. century. The Jirst chapel
on the right has a copy of the celebrated Madonna di
Pompeii, its decoration is entirely modern. There
are several interesting pavement stones with fine
lettering, in this aisle, one to a pilgrim. The third
chapel is that of S. Zeno (see below), in the recess
outside is the tomb of Cardinal Cetivi, obiit 1474, with
figures of SS. Peter Paul Praxedis and Pudentiana,
of fine workmanship. On the pier outside S. Zeno's
chapel is the bust of Monsignor Santoni said to be
the work of Bernini when a child of 10.
Beyond the side entrance is the chapel of the Cru-
cifix, with the beautiful tomb of Cardinal Anchera,
1286, probably the work of the Cosmati.
In the left aisle, the fourth chapel is modern, with a Left aisle,
picture of S. John Gualbertus. The third is the Olgiati
chapel, with monuments of that family ; the altar-piece
322 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
represents the Veronica incident, and is by F. Zucchero ;
• the roof is frescoed by Cavaiiere d' Arpino, the subject
being the Ascension, Resurrection, and the Four
Doctors. In this chapel are the chair of S. Charles,
and the table from which he distributed food to the
poor. In the sacristy is preserved his mitre. The
second chapel is dedicated to S. Charles Borromeo, and
has 3 ugly pictures relating to him. The Jirst chapel
is that of the Capogrossi family ; the picture repre-
sents Peter's visit to the household of Cornelius.
Near the door at this side a slab of granite let into the
wall is said to be that on which Praxedis slept. Near
it is the pavement tomb of a knight, with the date
1388.
Chapel of The chapel of S. Zeno is one of those added by
S. Zeno. Paschal, and was apparently intended as a shrine for
the martyrs Zeno and Valentine, and a burial place
for his mother. It leads out of the right aisle, and is
a little building complete in itself, forming one of the
most beautiful ecclesiastical monuments in Rome.
The columns of the doorway of black marble belonged
to a III. century pagan edifice ; the door-jambs and
architrave are of carved marble, and support an ancient
marble urn. Above the doorway are mosaic busts
ranged in 2 series round a window opening into the
chapel. In the upper series our Lord with Paul on
his right and Peter on the left, and the 10 other
apostles. In the lower tier the Madonna between
Valentine (right) and Zeno (left), Praxedis and Puden-
tiana, and 6 other women saints, all richly dressed and
crowned. In the angles above, 2 prophets within
circles.* At the extremities of the upper tier are busts
Interior, of 2 popes of a later period. The chapel is square
with an arched roof, and columns in the 4 corners. It
is entirely covered with mosaic, which gained for it the
name of the Orto del Paradise, garden of Paradise.
* The position in lunettes and appearance of these -figures, who
wear tunics and palliums, and have white hair, would point them
out as prophets, by the traditions of Christian art.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 323
Beneath the mosaic, is a dado of white marble. It has
an ancient tessellated pavement, a red porphyry wheel The
surrounded by a serpentine and porphyry cubes. On mosaics,
the spring of the arch at the 4 corners stand 4 solemn
angels, winged, their feet on globes, with arms lifted
up towards the central disc in which is an image of
the Redeemer. This figure is vested in a gold alb.
On the walls are figures of Saints in the garden of
Paradise. On that opposite the entrance, the Virgin,
with S. John Baptist who carries a lamp, within
which is a disc with the figure of a lamb. On this
wall is an arched window from which the chapel is
lighted. On the wall to the right are the apostles
John, Andrew, and James, in their hands a book held
on a niappula.-'- On the left wall Agnes, Praxedis, and
Pudentiana, who each hold a crown in the same way.
Over the doorway is the Throne of Christ, to the right
stands Peter, to the left Paul.
The mosaics of the lunette opposite the door have
been spoilt by the alabaster columns and architrave
of a modern altar. The Blessed Virgin seated with
the Child appears here between Pudentiana and
Praxedis. This may be as late as the xiii. century.
By the Madonna are the Greek letters MP EM
Mater Emanuel. Within this niche the transfigura-
tion was represented ; the figures of Christ, Peter, and
an unknown woman saint remain, but this part is all
much mutilated. The corresponding niche to the
right is now closed by a grating and stucco work, to
ornament a column placed under the urn of SS. Zeno shrine of
and Valentine. This column was brought in 1223 S. Zeno.
from Jerusalem, by Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, titular Right
of the church ; it is of blood jasper, and is alleged to wall,
be that to which Christ was tied at His flagellation.
Who persuaded the cardinal that this column, a column
being the device of his family,! was that at which
• Part II.
t Colonna, Columna, Column. We learn, however, from the
Peregrinatio of Silvia, who visited Jerusalem in the last quarter of
21 — 2
324 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the Redeemer was flagellated, cannot now be known,
but the barbarism committed in Paschal's chapel re-
mains patent to every eye. The marble urn which
contains the martyrs' relics still exists, but the relics
themselves were removed in 1699. Above, are 3
busts in mosaic, the Redeemer in the centre with a
cruciform nimbus, and 2 other tonsured saints each
with a nimbus, one with an open book, and the other
in an ancient chasuble. De Rossi considers these to
be Valentine and Zeno.
Left wall. Opposite the shrine of these saints is the site where
Paschal's mother was laid, probably by her oon.
This shrine has also been mutilated, an opening being
made through the thickness of the wall that the column
may be viewed from this side. In the lunette under
the arch is the mystic lamb on the mount, with the
four rivers, from which deer slake their thirst. Beneath
this are 4 busts of women— representing Pudentiana
(right), the Virgin Mary, Praxedis, and Theodora
Paschal's mother. Their names appear by the side of
each. The bust of the Madonna presents the type
now familiar to us. Praxedis is crowned. Theodora
wears a white veil and a square nimbus. It will be
remembered that Paschal himself is effigied with the
square nimbus on the tribune of the church.* By her
head is written Theodoj^a Episcopa. She and the
Madonna are the only instances of women with veils in
this chapel. De Rossi considers that the position of the
ancient cubes forming the lettering has been altered ;
the names of Praxedis and Theodora now running
horizontally while anciently they were perpendicular.
Theodora does not appear in Ciampini's drawings and
description of this chapel. It is certain from an in-
the IV. century, that there then existed a column of the flagellation
in the cathedral church of the Holy City. She says: " Statim
unusquisque animosi vadent in Syon orare ad columnam illam ad quant
flagellatus est Dominus."
* That over his mother's head is the only instance of a square
nimbus on a woman in Rome (De Rossi).
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 325
scription outside that this chapel was destined as the
place of her burial. Lower down is the descent of
Christ into Hades, from which He brings Adam and
Eve : a subject which appears in the lower church of
S. Clemente, in frescoes of the same period.
All the mosaics of this chapel are on a gold back-
ground.
Another name for the chapel is S. Maria libera nos
a poenis inferni.
The reader will be surprised to hear that the entrance
to this chapel is forbidden to women. A modern notice
over the door states in Italian that no woman may
enter under pain of excommunication. It is however
open on the Smidays of Lent, when crowds of poor
women go to pray before the column.
Outside the chapel of S. Zeno let into the pier of Paschal's
the nave is the original inscription, in fine old lettering, ipcnp-
giving the names of the martyrs moved from the cata-
combs, and deposited here by Paschal. After the
names of the virgins and widows, this inscription pro-
ceeds to tell us that on the right hand of the basilica
as you enter, rests the body of the most beneficent
Lady Bishop Theodora.* It is towards the end of the
inscription. The whole is cited in the Liber Pontifi-
calis.
Feast day. — July 21.
The Station is on the 6th Monday in Lent.
PEAXEDis was sister to Pudentiana, the daughter of
the Pudens and Claudia mentioned in ii. Timothy,
and the grand daughter of Priscilla who founded the
catacomb of that name on Via Salaria. She lived
through the first great persecution of the Church, and
with her sister went about comforting and encouraging
the victims, seeking out those who were tortured, and
ministering to them in her own house. They also
buried the martyrs. Praxedis was laid to rest in Pris-
• Quocirca et in ipso ingressu basilicae manu dextra ubi utique
Benignissimae suae genitricis scilicet Domnae Theodorae Episcopae
corpus quiescit.
326 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
cilia's cemetery, by Pastorus, in the sepulchre of her
father and sister. The narrative says that unable to
support the horrors suflFered by the Christians, she
prayed to be taken, and was called on the 12th Kalends
of August. (Compare S. Pudentiana, infra.)
S. PEISCA upon the Aventine is one of the ancient
Roman basilicas, and appears as Titulus Prisca in the
list of subscriptions to the synod of Symmachus (499).
This church is said traditionally to have originated as
an ecclesia domestica, the church built within the house
of Priscilla and Aquila which is mentioned in the Acts*
and in S. Paul's Epistles ;f where Peter stayed when
in Rome, and which was the centre of his apostolic
labours. The body of Prisca virgin and martyr, was
placed in this church later by Pope Eutychus (275-283),
but the ancient tradition of its foundation was retained
through the middle ages, and it appears in documents
as the church of Aquila and Prisca. In the xii. cen-
tury S. Prisca was an abbey church, of the " titulus
heatonim AquilcB et Prisca,'" and up to the xiv. cen-
tury an inscription referring to its apostolic origin
existed upon the architrave of the great door. This
venerable tradition has lately received remarkable con-
firmation through the investigations of De Rossi. He
has found accounts of two important discoveries made
in the garden near the church in the last century.
One of these was the excavation of a Christian oratory
dating from the first centuries of the faith, decorated with
frescoes, in which the symbol of the fish and figures of
the apostles were discernible. A few years later the
remains of an ancient Roman house were excavated
close to the basilica, and in it was found an inscription
upon bronze, now in the Vatican Library, referring to
the owner of the house Cornelianus Pudenti,\ senator of
Rome in the year 222. Unfortunately these interest-
ing ruins have been destroyed, but the records left of
* xviii. 2, 3. t I Cor. xvi. 19; Rom. xvi. 3-5.
\ Cajus Marius Pudens Cornelianus : a Pudens adopted by a
Cornelius.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 327
their discovery and the circumstance that the dwelling
of Cornelius of the family of Pudens was upon this
spot, are sufficient to show the close relation between
the domus Prisca on the Aventine and the damns Puden-
tiancs on the Esquiline, and present a valuable con-
firmation of the tradition that this is the " ecclesia
domestica " of Priscilla.
The basihca of S. Prisca was restored in 772 by
Adrian I., and by CaUixtus III. in 1455 who left an
inscription recording his work, now on the left of the
altar, and in which he refers to the temple of Hercules
and to other pagan reminiscences of the site. Cardinal
Giustiniani rebuilt the fa9ade and restored the confes-
sion in 1600, and Gregory XII. (1406) reduced the
church to its present form. At one time it had two
entrances, but no trace now remains of the second.
The 14 ancient pillars of the nave have been built into
masonry piers for additional strength.
The confession beneath the altar is reached by a
double staircase and is lighted by a grating in the
nave pavement. Here are preserved a xiii. century
mosaic of S. Peter, and a font formed of the Doric
capital of a pillar with three cups, popularly said to
have been used by Peter for baptizing the first convert
Christians. The inscription which records this upon
the font is of the xii. or xiii. century.
The painting over the high altar above is by Pas-
signani.
From the viii. century until 1061, the monastery
attached to the church was in the possession of Greek
monks. From that date it was held by Benedictines
until 1414. For some time it belonged to Franciscans,
and is now occupied by Augustinians.
The church is seldom open.
The feast day of S. Prisca is January 18, and the church is
also open on the 6th Tuesday in Lent for the Station, and on
September 30 the day of its dedication.
8. PEiBCA is said to have been the child of noble
Roman parents. When only thirteen she was on
328 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
account of her faith exposed in the Roman amphi-
theatre, but the Hon which should have devoured her
only licked her feet. She was then led away and
beheaded. The legend of this saint is a favourite sub-
ject in French glass and sculpture. She appears with
the martyr's palm, a lion at her side. An eagle is
said to have watched by her dead body, and is there-
fore sometimes introduced as an attribute. For Pris-
cilla see Chapter X., the catacomb of that name.
PROPAGANDA CHAPEL. — The chapel of the Propaganda
College is dedicated to the Magi. It was built from
the designs of Borromini and was consecrated in April
1729 by Cardinal Pitra. The remains of S. Hyacinth
discovered by P. Marchi in 1843, with the original
epitaph, are walled up in the second chapel on the
left.* Over the high altar is a picture of the Adora-
tion of the Magi.
Feast day. — January 6.
S. PTTDENTIANA is one of the first of Christian churches,
and one of the most interesting. Ancient tradition!
points to this site as the house of the Senator Pudens,
in which Peter lodged and baptized. It lies on a slope
of the Esquiline, which anciently was the Vicus
Patricius, and on the site of the Baths of Novatus.
The Baths of Novatus were erected in the first cen-
tury, the founders being Novatus and Timothy the
brethren of Pudentiana to whom this church is dedi-
cated. According to the tradition, Praxedis begged
Pope Pius I. to dedicate a church on the site of the
house of Pudens and Pudentiana, which he did in
A.D. 143, 141, or 145. This site, then, recording the
place of reunion of the Apostles Peter and Paul with
the first Roman Christians, was early named as a
titulus. In A.D. 384 we have an inscription to a Lector
of the titulus of Pudens ; and its titular presbyter sub-
* See catacomb of Ermete.
t Vide Letter of Pius I. to Justus of Vienna, the Liber Ponti-
ficalis, the narratives of Pastor and Timothy, and the Acts of
Praxedis.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 329
scribed in 499 to the Acts of the synod of Symmachus.
It was known as titulus Pudentis, Ecclesia Pudentiana,
and titulus Pudentiana. The name titulus Pastoris is
derived from the brother of Pius, whose house, also
dedicated as a church, was incorporated with the titulus
Pudentis.
In the time of Siricius, a.d. 398, the church was
restored by 3 presbyters, who left a record of their
work in an inscription on the apse. The church was
again restored in the viii. century, then by Hilde-
brand in the xi''', under the title of Pastor and the
Precursor John ; then in the xii. century ; and finally
in 1597 it was reduced to its present form by Cardinal
Caetani.
We descend from the present Via Urbana by 2
flights of steps to the level of the church. The fa9ade
has a modem painting representing Peter in the centre,
with Pudentiana and Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) to his
left, the latter wearing a red cap which fits over the
ears ; and to the right Pudens and Pius I. This
fa9ade was constructed by Cardinal Bonaparte from
the designs of Manno.
The church consists of a nave, with 14 ancient gray Interior,
columns which formerly divided it from aisles ; these
aisles are now made into side chapels. Over the
tribune there is a beautiful and effective mosaic, the The
finest in Rome, and the most conspicuous object in the rnosaic of
church. This mosaic was begun, as De Rossi has ^P^'
demonstrated, at the time of the restoration in a.d. 398,
temp. Siricius, and finished under Innocent I. (402-417).
It has been frequently restored.
In the centre is our Lord enthroned, below Him
are the 12 Apostles. Ten only remain to-day ; in 1588
the two figures at the extremities perished in cutting
the apse, together with the iv. century inscription of
the presbyters who restored the church ! Christ is
seated on a raised gold throne ; near Him stand
Pudentiana and Praxedis, who place crowns on the
heads of Peter and Paul, Peter being to the left and
330 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Paul to the right of the throne. Praxedis crowns
Paul. Both women are gorgeously dressed in gold
and green drapery. The buildings represented are the
church and houses in the ancient Vicus Patricius. The
altar-piece is a picture of Pomarancio's, which repre-
sents the 2 sisters gathering the blood of the martyrs.
Pastorus is assisting. Above is the apotheosis of
Pudentiana. The altar was erected by Cardinal Wise-
man, who was titular of the church. In the left aisle
is the Gaetani chapel, with representations of the
Magi.
There are 3 chapels in the right aisle ; and a chapel
on either side of the high altar — that to the left has a
marble representation of the gift of the keys. In this
aisle is shown a grated well where it is said the sisters
Praxedis and Pudentiana collected the blood and relics
of 3,000 martyrs. There is a modern bronze tomb
near the entrance of the church to the right, to a
Polish archbishop who was titular cardinal of this
edifice, and legate to France under Leo XIII.
Feast day. — May 19.
The Station is on the 3rd Tuesday in Lent ; and the Dedica-
tion of the church is on October 20. It may be seen at other
times by application to the custode.
8. PUDENTIANA a mcmbcr and later the mistress of
that domtis Pudentiana which is said to have received
Peter, was already a Christian on the apostle's arrival
in Rome. The Pudenti were connected with the
Corneli-Emilii, kin to the Cecilii ; so De Rossi con-
jectures from the monuments. Since Pudentiana
"followed the Christian religion with an admirable
devotion," she with her sister sold their large patri-
mony, distributing the proceeds to the poor, and tended
the victims of the Neronian persecution. Though she
did not suffer death for the faith, she is frequently
called a martyr. It is related of her that she converted
her whole household of 96 men, whom she brought to
Pius I. in one day for baptism. When by the law of
the Antonines the public worship of Christians was
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 331
forbidden, Pudentiana, it is said, most lovingly, henigne,'
received the Christians and Pius into her house, where
the divine worship was celebrated, and where she
lavished all things necessary to support life, " In
these Christian offices of piety she passed out of this
life " and was buried on the 14th Kalends of June on
the Via Salaria. Pius I, was pope between 145-155
A.D., and the late date has induced the Bollandists to
distinguish between the Pudens and Claudia men-
tioned by Paul in the Epistle to Timothy, and a son
or grandson Pudeiis who lived in the time of Pius I.
and was the father of Pudentiana and Praxedis.* Cer-
tainly the story of Pudentiana a Christian on Peter's
visit and assisting in the Neronian persecution, does
not accord at all with the story of her receiving Pius
a century later. We must choose between them. Per-
haps the earlier works of mercy were performed by
Priscilla and Claudia with their children ; while a later
Pudens and his wife Sabinella were parents of the
holy women who helped Pius and the Christians of
their time. All accounts agree that both Praxedis and
her sister unceasingly tended the victims of a great
persecution, and Antoninus (138-161) did not persecute.
It is certain that perplexity is always arising in the
story of the different generations of these Roman
Christians, who performed the same works from father
to son, from mother to daughter.
Pudentiana and Praxedis had two brothers, Novatus
the founder of the baths called by his name, and
Timothy. Novatus' baths are said to have been on
his paternal property, and it is here that the church of
Pudentiana stands. + That the latter was early believed
* It is noteworthy that others call Pudens' wife not Claudia
but Sabinella. This is the name of the matron who founded the
catacomb of S. Valentine, where Valentine and Zeno sometimes
called the friend of Pudens' daughters, are represented together.
{Vide S. Prassede, ante.)
t Gregorovius takes the view that the church was really built
on the site of the Baths of Novatus, S. Praxedis being on the
domestic site. Both are near together.
332
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Present
excava-
tions.
. to be not only her house but the house of the gens
which had received Peter, is evinced by the inscription
in the apse upon the book Christ holds : Dominus con-
servator ecclesicB Pudentiana, " the Lord, Preserver of
the Pudentian church," of the site that is, where dwelt
Priscilla, her son Pudens, Praxedis, Pudentiana and
the rest who formed a church there in the time of
Peter.
Excavations now proceeding under the church have
brought to light the baths of a Roman house, the tes-
sellated pavement of which shows it to be of the i.
century. The heating apparatus, amphorae, and other
objects, have been found. The excavation can be
visited, and it is much to be hoped will be con-
tinued.
Pastor, a holy man who assisted the sisters in their
works of piety, is also represented as the brother of
Pope Pius, and by others as also the author of the
Pastor of Hermas. With Pudentiana and her sister
he daily braved the Roman law for the sake of the
suffering. He wrote a narrative of the lives of the two
sisters.
SS. QTIATTRO COEONATI. — This interesting church
upon the ridge of the Coelian near the Lateran, was
built in the v. century in the region then known as
Caput Africa, and upon some ancient ruins. It is pos-
sible that an oratory existed upon this site at an even
earlier period, as fragments of a Damasian inscription
(iv. century) have been found under the apse of the
church, and some writers consider it to have been
founded by Pope Melchiades (311-314).
It was restored by Honorius I. (625), and by Leo IV.
(847) but was destroyed in 1080 by Robert Guiscard.
In 1 1 12 it was once more rebuilt by Paschal II. upon
a smaller scale, the original walls of the right nave
now forming part of the refectory of the adjoining con-
vent, while some of the columns of the older building
still stand in the second of the two outer courts of this
basilica. This pope has left an inscription stating that
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 333
he found the urns containing the relics of the saints to
whom the basilica was dedicated, under the altar ; and
in later restorations another relic, said to be the head
of S. Sebastian, was discovered enclosed in a silver
case. Under Martin V. (141 7) the church was once
more restored, and again under Pius IV.
It is now approached by two outer courts ; its in- Interior,
terior consists of a nave divided from the aisles by 8
pillars of gray granite. Above these is a second series
of smaller pillars forming an upper gallery. The
wooden ceiling dates from 1580 ; the pavement is cos-
matesque work. The confession in which are kept
the relics of the titular saints is reached by a double
flight of steps. An ancient episcopal chair is pre-
served in the tribune, which is decorated with fres-
coes by Giovanni di S. Giovanni ; the ancient paintings
of the time of Paschal II. were destroyed by Cardinal
Millini in 1624 when he restored the tribune.
Popes Leo IV. and Stephen VI. were elected to the
papacy in this basiUca. The adjoining monastery long
belonged to Camaldolese monks, but was in 1560 trans-
formed into an orphanage.
This church is seldom open except early in the
morning ; and for the Station on the 4th Monday in
Lent.
Feast day. — November 8.
THE "Fotm CROWNED BAiMTs " are 4 soldicrs of the Dio-
cletian persecution, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus,
and Victorinus, brethren, who refusing to serve the
gods were beaten with lead, and their bodies thrown
to the dogs. The dogs refused to touch them ; and
the Christians eventually buried them on the Via
Labicana. Their story has been confused with that
of the 5 sculptor martyrs mentioned on p. 404. De
Rossi has elucidated the 2 stories, and shown that the
bodies of the Eastern martyrs were brought to Rome,
and laid near the 4 Western martyrs, and were so seen
by VII. century pilgrims. Both groups of martyrs
were translated by Leo IV. to this church.
334 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
OBATOBY OF S. SIL VESTED. — Close to the outer court of
this basilica is the celebrated chapel of S. Silvestro,
built in the xiii. century, and which has suffered little
alteration since that date. The inscription as to its
dedication by the Bishop of Ostia in 1246 still exists.
It belongs to the Guild of Carvers and Marble-
workers, and is decorated with frescoes representing
the legendary life of Pope Sylvester. The date of
these (1248) was seen upon them by Seroux d'Agin-
court.
S. SABBA. — Beyond S. Prisca and upon that slope of
the Aventine which is called the " falso Aventino," is
situated this church, which stands alone and isolated.
It is built upon or near the site of the house of Sylvia,
mother of Gregory, and is mentioned in the pontificate
of Leo III. (795). Upon the door still exists an in-
scription recording the work done in the church by
M agister Jacobus one of the earliest of the great Roman
marble-carvers. The inscription is of the year 1205.
The ancient nave columns are still in place in the
church, but the mosaics have perished, and have
been replaced by a bad painted copy. The adjacent
monastery was originally held by Greek monks, and
was known as the Cella Njiova. It passed to the
Cistercians under Julius II., and now belongs to the
Germanic College.
Feast day. — December 5.
B. SABBA was a Basilian monk who came to Rome
about the year 989 or 991 from the " Patrizio " at
Amalfi. He stayed in the convent of S. Cesareo in
Palatio and died there.
S. SABINA was built among the ruins of ancient
temples which in the days of pagan Rome crowned
the Aventine, and it fronted upon a road which led
from the river bank to the Porta Trigemina.
In the middle ages a forest, largely composed of
laurel trees, covered the hill, and here, in the convent
attached to the church. Pope Silverius secluded him-
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 335
self during the Gothic war (536). Honorius III. en-
larged this ancient building, and fortified it with walls
and towers, of which traces still remain, giving it later
to the Dominican monks of S. Sabina (12 16- 1227).
Here Honorius IV. (1285-1288) lived and died, and
here after his death was held the memorable conclave
which lasted for over a year.*
The basilica of S. Sabina was built in the reigns of
Celestine I. (423) and Sixtus III. (432) by a priest
called Peter, an Illyrian ; and was restored by
Gregory II. (715) Leo III. (795) Eugenius II. (824)
and Gregory IX. (1227). Its primitive type was lost
during restorations undertaken by Sixtus V., and in
this century, Signor Armellini f records, the slabs form-
ing the altar, and other treasures, were sold by the
vicar general of the Dominicans !
The basilica has two entrances. That to the side
was originally flanked by the two pillars of verde antico
now in the Chiaramonte museum of the Vatican. The
other and main entrance is now within the convent
buildings. It was preceded by a portico of 8 columns. Portico,
four of them of fluted white marble. From the portico
three entrances led into the nave and two aisles of the
church. Only the central entrance now remains, with
door-jambs of carved marble of the xiii. century.
The doors themselves, of cypress wood, are of the Doors,
same period as the church, namely of the v. century.
They are divided into 14 panels, in rows of four with
two small ones below, each panel surrounded with rich
ornamentation of fruit and leaves. The panels carved
in deep relief represent scenes in the Old and New
Testaments, that at the top and to the extreme left
being one of the earhest representations of the Cruci-
fixion. Over the door on the inside is a great mosaic interior,
inscription upon a blue ground recording the founda-
tion of the basilica by Peter the Illyrian. On either
side of the letters are two figures of women wearing
stoles, and holding open books. Beneath are the words
* See Part IV. t Chiese di Roma.
336 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
" Ecchsia ex Circumcisione " and " Ecclesia ex Genttbus."
The symbols of the EvangeHsts which were depicted
above have now disappeared.
Between nave and aisles are 24 ancient columns of
white marble with Corinthian capitals and supporting
low arches. The fronts of these are decorated with
mosaic of porphyry and serpentine. The wooden roof
of nave and aisles has been fortunately retained. The
mosaics of the tribune and arch have perished.
Nave. Within the doors are some interesting pavement
tombs, that nearest to " Domina Stephenia Deisula,
Genera, ospita ordinis Prsedicatorum," and the date
1303 ("guest of the order of Preachers"). Another
with the arms in mosaic " Nobilis D"» D°^ Perna "
wife of one of the Sabelli ; and on the other side with
the arms quartered, " D"* Odilenna " wife of the
English Lord Demantella, and daughter of the Norman
Montemarci. The date of this is illegible. Beyond
is the beautiful tomb decorated with mosaic of Munio
da Zamora, general of the order under Boniface VIII.
(1295). Close by a black stone is shown upon a
pedestal which S. Dominic is said to have thrown at
the devil.
The tribune is raised some feet above the nave, but
the marble carving with which it was decorated has
Confes- perished. In the confession lie the bodies of S. Sabina
sion. and Seraphia removed from the catacomb of Alex-
ander, as the inscription states. To the left of the
tribune is a handsome little tabernacle for the sacred
oils.
Right In the right aisle a chapel of S. Hyacinth is deco-
rated with paintings by Zucchero, and at the extremity
of this aisle is the chapel of the Rosary with a beauti-
ful altar-piece of the Madonna with S. Dominic and
S. Catherine, by Sassoferrato. To the right of it is the
XV. century tomb of a cardinal of the Poddi family
with the inscription : Ut moriens viveret vixit ut mori-
turus, and above a bas-relief of the Madonna between
SS. Catherine and Sabina.
aisle.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 337
A chapel decorated by Odazzi and dedicated to Left aisle.
S. Catherine opens out from the left aisle, and here
are monuments to members of the Order.
This year (1896) through the initiative of Professor Recent
Bacelli, a great portion of the marble screen placed by dis-
Eugenius II. round the choir has been discovered, covenes.
The slabs of marble which are among the best
examples of the ix. century carving, are now fixed to
the wall of the left aisle. They had been used as
paving stones and to form the steps of the tribune in
the restorations under Sixtus V., and all trace of them
had disappeared. Portions have also been found of a
more ancient balustrade, the carving of which is much
rougher, and this may possibly date from the restora-
tions of Leo III.
Attached to the church is the monastery granted by Monas-
Honorius III. to S. Dominic, and where he lived for tery.
many years. An orange tree said to have been planted
by him is still shown in the garden. The cloisters
which are of the xiii. century are now the property
of the neighbouring blind school, and are no longer
visible. S. Dominic's room in the convent was made
into a chapel by Clement IX., and is shown to visitors,
with that of the Dominican pope Pius V.
Feast day. — August 29. Of the dedication of the church ; Oc-
tober 15.
It is open for the Station on Ash Wednesday, a day fixed by
Gregory the Great. The great Dominican feasts are also kept
here (see p. 285).
s. SABDTA was a Roman matron of noble birth, wife
of Valentinius the senator. Little is known of her.
She was converted to Christianity by a Greek virgin,
her slave Seraphia, and after the martyrdom of the
latter, Sabina buried her body. This brought her
before the Emperor Hadrian, and after being subjected
to menaces and temptations all of which she resisted
with unswerving fortitude, she was sentenced to decapi-
tation. Her body was buried by the Christians in
the same grave with Seraphia.
22
338 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. 8EBA8TIAN0 BELLA POLVEEINA on the Palatine hill is
a very ancient church. It is first mentioned at the end
of the X. century, but it is not unlikely that it dates
from the age of Constantine. It is said to have been
erected on the site where Sebastian suflfered martyr-
dom, but in the middle ages it was indifferently called
S. Sebastiano and S. Maria. During this period the
Cassinese monks possessed the church and built a
monastery adjoining. Here Gelasius II. was elected
pope in 1 1 18. Of the ancient decorations of the church,
there remain those of the apse and some remnants on
the great arch. The other paintings of saints which
covered the walls were destroyed by Urban VIII. At
that date the church was already ruinous from great
age, and was used as a. dwelling for the peasants of
the Barberini vineyard.
The paintings of the apse represent the Redeemer
between four saints, Laurence, Stephen, Sebastian and
Zoticus, the two latter dressed in the costume of the
Palatine guard of the v. century. An inscription below
states that the painter was " Petrus illustris medicus.''
He used to appear in the painting offering the church
to S. Sebastian, while his wife offered gifts to Zoticus ;
but these figures have perished. The figures' on the
lower part of the apse are of a later date. Copies of
the destroyed frescoes of the walls were preserved in
the Barberini Library, and have been replaced in the
church.
Feast day. — January 20.
For the account of the Saint, see p. 138.
S. SILVESTBO IN BIBEEATICA upon the Quirinal derives
its appellation from the mediaeval name of the contrada.
The church is mentioned in Camerarius' catalogue,
and is therefore anterior to the xiii. century. It was
restored in the xvi. century, and a new fa9ade has
been added lately, with a flight of steps within the
building leading up to the church, the level of the
street having been lowered. The convent adjoining,
once occupied by Dominicans, now belongs to the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 339
missionary fathers. The dome of the church is
decorated with frescoes by Domenichino, representing
David, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Judith, and
Esther. There are also two landscapes of Caravaggio's
in the second chapel on the left. The ceiling of this
chapel is painted by Cav. d' Arpino. The Assump-
tion at the high altar is by Scipione Gaetani.
8. 8ILVESTE0 IN CAPITE. — Where this church now
stands in the Piazza S. Silvestro, Paul I. (757-767)
built a monastery upon the site of his paternal house,
and dedicated it to the popes Stephen and Sylvester.
In the oratory of this monastery, which was also
dedicated to S. Denis, he placed the bodies of these
saints. Later he built a church attached to the
monastery, with the same dedication, and here he
removed the bodies of Sylvester and Stephen, and the
relics of over 100 martyrs from the catacombs. A list
of these relics is still attached to the outer wall of the
church, the names of the women saints in one portion,
the names of the men in another ; a list which is
referred to with the name of the pope and the date, in
an inscription in the crypt of S. Peter's. This may
probably be the first church to which the relics of
martyrs were removed from the catacombs.
The earliest name by which this church was known
was cata Pauli, referring to its origin, and probably
contemporaneous with it. Later, the names of Stephen
and Denis fell out of use, and the church was known
as S. Silvestro as at present ; the term in Capite being
adopted in the xiii. century, after the head of John
the Baptist was removed to it.
S. Silvestro was enriched and endowed by Nicholas L
(858), and was rebuilt by Innocent III. (1198-1216).
The campanile is of this date. Being again in a
ruinous condition, it was reduced to its present form
by Clement VII. (1523) and Clement XI. (1700).
It retains an ancient basilica court and portico, in Interior,
which are preserved some ancient inscriptions. The
interior is entirely modern. It consists of a single nave
22 — 2
340 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
with three chapels on either side and a small transept.
In the lunette over the high altar is a painting of Con-
stantine's baptism by Sylvester.
In the sacristy some xiv. century frescoes from the
monastery are preserved.
Up to the XIII. century this convent was occupied
by Greek, and later by Benedictine monks. After
that date it was given to Clarisses nuns. It was sup-
pressed by the present Government, and is now used
for the chief post and telegraph offices.
The Antonine column of Monte Citorio belonged to
the monastery of S. Silvestro from the x. century. An
inscription referring to it is preserved in the portico.
The church is now under the care of English Pal-
lotini, who live in a part of the old monastery building,
and it has been recently constituted a parish church
for the Catholic English in Rome.
Feast day. — December 31.
The Station is on the 5th Thursday in Lent.
s. SYLVESTER was thc popc of " the Peace," being
Bishop of Rome in Constantine's time. He was a
Roman, and occupied the papal see for 23 years from
314. During his pontificate the basilicas of the
Lateran and the Vatican were founded. A legend
declares that he baptized Constantine, and the por-
phyry font in the Baptistery of the Lateran is pointed
out as the scene of the baptism. According to another
legend, Constantine made to the pope the celebrated
donation of Rome, when he himself went to found the
new Rome at Constantinople. These relations of
Sylvester and the Emperor Constantine are popular in
art. Constantine is supposed to have been ordered a
bath of children's blood to cure him of his leprosy,
but moved by pity he commanded the children to be
■ restored to their mothers, and that night Peter and
Paul appeared to him in a vision. Sylvester who was
in hiding in a cave owing to the persecutions, was sent
for to interpret this vision, and Constantine's conver-
sion and baptism followed, when his leprosy was healed.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 341
Other stories are related of Sylvester : his subduing
a dragon in the name of Christ, which lived in a moat
and destroyed many men every day ;* how he silenced
in argument the two Greek philosophers Crato and
Zeno, brought against him to satisfy the Empress
Helena ; and how he brought to Hfe a wild bull killed
by the whispered words of a magician.
Sylvester was present at the Council of Nicaea, and
upon his death was buried in the catacomb of Priscilla.
In art, he is represented in pontifical robes and
wearing the mitre or tiara ; beside him is a crouching
bull, or a dragon ; sometimes he carries busts of the
two apostles Peter and Paul, and he holds a book
and crozier.
S. 8IST0 upon the* Via Appia and opposite the
Baths of Caracalla, is the ancient Tituhis Tigridis and
seems to have been built by a Roman woman of this
name. The names of the priests of this title appear
among the synodal subscriptions of 499, and the
church is mentioned by Gregory the Great in one of
his dialogues. Little is known of its origin or early
history. It was rebuilt by Innocent III. (1198) and
was conferred upon S. Dominic and his order by
Honorius III. (1216). When these 'monks were
moved to S. Sabina in 12 19, Dominican nuns took
possession of the building and there remained until
the pontificate of Pius V. when they moved to
SS. Domenico e Sisto on the Quirinal. A portion of
the old building near S. Sisto still remains, wath a
chapel dedicated to S. Dominic decorated with frescoes,
though it is appropriated by the Italian Government.
The church of S. Sisto has been restored and
modernized in recent years by Cardinal Boncompagni.
A community of Dominican nuns still resides in a
portion of the monastery building. The Italian
Government uses its grounds and orchards as nursery
gardens.
The bodies of Pope Zephyrinus, Antheros, and
* See S. Maria Liberatrice.
342 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Felix lie in this church, with the relics of many
martyrs.
Feast day. — August 6.
The Station is on the 4th Wednesday in Lent.
For S. Sixtus, see Chap. X.
S. SPIRITO IN SA8SIA.— The history of this church
should have an especial interest for the English, as it
was built in the viii. century by Ina King of Wessex,*
and was attached to the schola or settlement of the
Anglo-Saxons. The whole region upon the river
bank from S. Peter's to the bridge has ever since
retained the name of SassiaA
The original church was burnt down under Paschal I.
in the ix. century, and when again built was almost
destroyed during the Saracenic invasion. Innocent III.
once more rebuilt it, and the hospital annexed to it
was given into the care of the hospitallers of S. Spirito.
It was finally restored from Sangallo's designs under
Paul III., a new fa9ade being added by Sixtus V.
It now contains little of interest. The tribune
frescoes and the picture in the Jirst chapel to the right
are by Zucca. The painting in the Jirst to the left is
by Pierin del Vaga. The fine ciborium is said to be
the work of Palladio.
S. STEFANO DEGLI ABI88INI. — This little church behind
the tribune of S. Peter's is probably all that remains of
a famous monastery of S. Stefano which was founded
by Leo I. (441) in the Vatican district. It was one of
four grouped round old S. Peter's ; and as two of these
had the some dedication, it was distinguished as
S. Stefano Maggiore.
Galla Placidia probably enriched the convent as her
name appears with it in more than one entry in the
Liber Pontificalis and elsewhere.
The church and monastery were enriched and
endowed by Paschal I., and Sixtus IV. restored them
• Ob. in Rome, a.d. 727.
t De Waal, " / luogi pti del Vaticano."
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 343
and bestowed them upon the Abyssinian monks. These
monks have remained in possession with a temporary
break until now. A hospital for Abyssinians was
annexed to the monastery in 1159, and the church was
popularly called S. Stefano in Egitto,or "of the Moors."
The church still contains some Arabic and ^Ethiopian
inscriptions, and some fine marble carved door-jambs.
S. STEFANO KOTONDO. — This interesting church on the
Ccelian Hill was long supposed to be an adaptation of
some pagan building, a temple of Faunus or Bacchus, or
the meat market of Nero. Recent publications of De
Rossi,* and an account of the church by Terribilini,
lately found and edited by the former, show it to
have been a Christian edifice of the v. century, a fact
first recognised by Huebsch,t and supported by the
entries in the Liber Pontificalis, which state that the
basilica of S. Stephen was dedicated by Pope Simplicius
(468-482), and completed by John I. (523-526). The fact
oif its foundation as a Christian edifice was also recorded
in an inscription in the church itself, seen by the
anonymous Einsiedeln writer of the viii. century.
S. Stefano is built in the form of a circular basilica.
Its original extent was considerably greater than at
present, as the pillars now built into the outer wall
formed a second circle standing free round the entire
basilica have, while its outer wall was several feet
beyond. This change was effected by Nicholas V.
in the xv. century. The church was approached by
a portico, which is now the chapel of SS. Primus and
Felicianus, and it was preceded by a magnificent
piazza, and porticoes adorned with mosaics of the
time of Felix IV., while as we learn from visitors to
the church in the xv. century its interior was rich in
mosaic and precious marbles.
In the VII. century Pope Theodore removed to
this basilica the bodies of the martyrs Primus and
FeHcianus, and to make a fitting shrine the portico of
• Studi e Documenti di Storia e Diritto, a. vii., 1886.
t Christlichen Kitchen, 36.
344 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Portico.
the church was transformed into an apse, which can
still be seen decorated with mosaics of this epoch.
The new entrance was constructed at this date, and
the present portico was probably added in the xii.
century.
In this vestibule is preserved a marble seat in
which S. Gregory is said to have read his fourth
Homily, as we read in the inscription above it.
Interior. The inner circle of columns are 20 in number of gray
granite with Ionic capitals. These support the wall
pierced with windows, and the wooden roof. Owing to
the great diameter of this church, additional strength
is given to the roof by a brick wall supported upon
pier^andtwo Corinthian pillars, placed diagonally across
the inner circle. Thirty-six columns are built into
the outer wall. Eight of these are of marble Avith
Corinthian capitals, four of them before the chapel of
SS. Primus and Felicianus, and four in a corresponding
position at the opposite side of the church. The rest
are of granite with Ionic capitals.
The chapel of SS. Primus and Felicianus is now to
the left on entering. The mosaics of the apse, which
are of the vii. century, show the jewelled cross with
the head of the Saviour above, and saints on either
side. The paintings in this chapel represent scenes in
the life of the two saints Primus and Felicianus. In
the next chapel are some modern paintings, and a fine
sepulchral monument to one " Bernadino." Here also
is a hagioscope from the gallery above.
The walls of the basilica are painted by Pomarancio
and Mattei of Siena with a ghastly series of martyr-
doms, arranged in chronological order. In the centre of
the basilica is a tabernacle surrounded by'a balustrade,
in bad taste and out of keeping with the rest of the
church. Here are kept relics of S. Stephen.
S. Stefano belonged to secular clergy until the
XV. century. Nicholas V. then gave it to the Hun-
garian and Dalmatian monks of the order of Paul the
Hermit. These were turned out by Gregory XIII.,
Chapel
ofSS.
Primus
and Fell
cianus.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 345
and the church was given to the Jesuits of the German
college, who still possess it.
Feast day. — December 26.
The Station is on the 6th Friday in Lent.
s. sTEPHEw the Protomartyr, one of the earliest
evangelists, and one of the first " Seven " Deacons,
was like the other six a Grecian Jew, and has, like
these, a Greek name (Acts vi.). His memory has
always been singularly honoured. His sarcophagus is
now shown at S. Lorenzo outside the walls, whither it
was brought from Constantinople ; one of those legends
so dear to ruder ages declaring that when attempts
were made to move the body of Laurence promised in
exchange, it was found impossible to do so, and it thus
"miraculously" remained with those who had under-
taken to cede it. The original finding of this great saint's
remains is also fabulous. In the time of the younger
Theodosius (415)* a figure calling itself Gamaliel ap-
peared to a presbyter of Jerusalem, informing him
that his own body, with those of his son, of his friend
Nicodemus, and of Stephen, were buried in the adjoin-
ing field ; a field in the village where this favoured
person was presbyter. Oth^r visions followed. The
ground was opened by the bishop, and all the coffins
were found ; the body of Stephen being removed to
Mount Sion. According to the Breviary, Theodosius
the younger thence removed the body to Constantinople ;
it was removed to Rome in the pontificate of Pelagius
who placed it in agro Verano, where it still is. Augustine
cites in the " City of God " a whole series of marvels
wrought by virtue of these remains.
8. SUSANNA in the Piazza S. Bernardo is a church
of very ancient foundation, although it has been com-
pletely rebuilt at various times, and as late as the year
1693. It is said by tradition to have been built upon
the site of the house of Gabinius, father of Susanna,
and is first mentioned in 497 as the " titulus " of
* Or of Honorius, some few years earlier,
346 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Gabinius and Susanna. Close by was the house of
Gabinius' brother Caius the pope (283-296) and hence
the church of S. Susanna is early spoken of as " ad
duas domos," and is so described in an inscription of
Pope Sergius I. (687) which was lost during the
restorations of the xvii. century.
Sergius was titular priest of this basilica. It was
restored by Adrian I. (771), and almost rebuilt by
Leo III. in 800. In this church the latter conferred
with Charlemagne, and mosaics placed in the tribune
in honour of the event existed until recently.
The church was again restored by Sixtus V., and
rebuilt in 1693 by Cardinal Rusticucci. Its fa9ade is
by Maderno. The choir is decorated with frescoes by
Cesare Nebbia, who also painted the picture in the
chapel in the left transept, built in honour of S. Lorenzo
by the sister of Sixtus V.
Recent excavations under the confession, where the
body of Susanna lies, have brought to light the remains
of a Roman house of the in. century, with traces of
frescoes and tessellated pavement of this date.
Feast day. — August 11.
The church is open for the " Station " on the 4th Saturday in
Lent. It is attached to a convent of Cistercian nuns.
s. suBAHHA, virgin and martyr, was a Roman of
noble birth, daughter of the presbyter Gabinius, and
related to the Emperor Diocletian. She was a learned
and beautiful girl, and Diocletian wished to marry her
to his son Maxentius. Susanna had secretly vowed
herself to Christ, and refused every offer of the
emperor's. As threats were also of no avail, she was
killed in her own house by order of the emperor, on
August II, 290. She was the principal means of
converting her relatives Claudius, Prepedigna, and
Maximus. " My brother Caius," said Claudius, " the
bishop and the priest Gabinius persuaded me to
become a Christian, but more than them all the maiden
(Susanna)."
These things being told to Diocletian, led to the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 347
martyrdom of the other members of Susanna's family.
After the latter's martyrdom, it is said, the Empress
Severa came to her house on the Quirinal, and anointed
and buried her body in the cemetery of Alexander,
from whence it was removed to this church.
S. TEODOEO.— This circular church under the slopes
of the Palatine, is mentioned as a diaconate in the
time of Gregory the Great (590-604). It is built upon
the ruins of some ancient temple. It was rebuilt by
Nicholas V. (1447), who however did not disturb the
mosaics of the ancient tribune, although he probably
added the figure of Theodore which is more modern.
The date of these mosaics is uncertain ; they may be
contemporaneous with those of SS. Cosma and Damian,
namely of the vi. century. They represent Christ
seated on the globe holding a gemmed cross. His right
hand raised in benediction. On either hand stand
Peter and Paul, Peter holding the lamp ; beside him
S. Theodore. Beside Paul, S. Cleonicus.
This church is popularly called S. Toto, and the
Roman mothers bring their sick children here to obtain
the intercession of the titular saint for their recovery.
Up to the XVI. century, the celebrated bronze wolf,
now on the Capitol, was kept in this church. In 1674
it was restored by Cardinal Barberini, and Clement XI.
cleared away the soil round it to save it from damage
by debris from the Palatine. An ancient library was
attached to S. Teodoro, which disappeared during the
sack of Rome in 1526.
In the XVI. century this church possessed a chapter
of canons. It is now officiated by a confraternity.
Feast day. — November 9.
B. THEODORE.-The saiut to whom this church is dedi-
cated was a military saint of the type of Sebastian and
George. He was a soldier of high rank in the army
of the Emperor Licinius, but being a Christian he was
beheaded and burnt under Maximian in 300. He was
the patron saint of Venice before S. Mark. S. Teodoro
348 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
is represented as a Roman soldier with a dragon at
his feet. In Venice a crocodile crouches beside him.
He appears sometimes on horseback with a sword and
palm.
S. TOMMASO IN FORMIS on the Coelian, is a little
church at one time attached to one of the great abbeys
of Rome, that of the Trinitarians for the redemption
of slaves. Only the ruins of the monastery now remain
with its great doorway, above which is a mosaic of the
Saviour between a black and a white slave. This
mosaic was the work of the Cosmati, and bears their
name.
The church probably dates from the xi. century,
but its paintings or mosaics have been covered
with whitewash, and it contains now nothing of
interest.
The abbey was conferred upon John de Matha by
Innocent X. for his order, and after his death his body
was laid in the church, and was there venerated until
the XVII. century, when it seems to have been moved
to Spain.
The little church stands close to the so-called arch
of Dolabella and Silanus, built by these consuls in
A.D. lo, and above which is the room inhabited by
John de Matha which can be visited on February 8,
his feast day.
8. THOMAS, APOSTLE, was sumamed Didymus (twin). In
art his doubt of the Resurrection is often depicted.
Legend tells us that " doubting Thomas " would not
believe the assumption of Mary, and that when he
went to look into her tomb, she threw down her girdle
to him, taking pity on his want of faith. This pretty
fairy-tale is frequently represented in pictures of the
Assumption, or of Mary's coronation, when Thomas
forms part of the group on earth holding the girdle in
his hand. This Apostle is supposed to have preached
the faith in many distant regions, and among the
Indians, and to have suffered a.d. 57.
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 349
SS. TEIlflTA DE' MONTI at the summit of the Spanish
Steps, was built in 1493 at the expense of Charles VIII.
of France, as a convent for Minimite monks. Louis XII.
and Henry II. and III. continued to contribute to the
church, while many Roman families decorated chapels
within it. It remained in the possession of the Minimite
order until 1798. It was plundered and spoilt during
the French Revolution, but was restored in 1816 by
Louis XVIII. It is now owned by the nuns of the
Sacre Cceur, who keep a large girls' school.
The interior of the church, a nave without aisles, is chapels,
divided into two by the usual bronze screen.
In the II. chapel on the right, a picture of S. Right.
Francis of Paula is said to be a portrait. In the
III. chapel is an Assumption by Daniele da Volterra,
and on either side the Presentation and the Massacre
of the Innocents. In the V. chapel are some good but
injured paintings of the Nativity by a Florentine pupil
of Volterra, Michel Albert, and in the VI. some frescoes
by Perugino, or an artist of his school.
The left transept is painted by Pierino del Vaga —
an Assumption and the Death of the Virgin ; on the
vault Isaiah and Daniel. The altar-piece is by Zuc-
chero.
The, chapel in the left aisle next the transept, the Left.
Massimo chapel, contains an altar-piece by Seitz ; the
next, an altar-piece, " Noli me tangere," by Giulio
Romano. The IV. chapel contains an altar-piece,
by Langlois, of S. Joseph. In the III. is a Madonna
by Veih, and in the II., the Orsini chapel, the
Descent from the Cross, considered the masterpiece of
Daniele da Volterra.
The cloisters of the adjoining convent were decorated
in this century with frescoes representing the life of
S. Francesco da Paola, and contain portraits of the
French kings by Nucci. The refectory was painted by
the Jesuit Pozzi.
The church contains the monuments of many
cardinals and members of Roman families, among
350 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
them that of Lucrezia della Rovere, niece of Julius II.,
and of Prince de Rohan, Cardinal Archbishop of
Besan9on.
88. VINCENZO E ANASTA8I0 in the Piazza Trevi, is a
parish church. In 1612 Paul V. bestowed it on the
monks of S. Jerome, and it finally passed to the
" Ministers of the Infirm," to whom it now belongs.
The church was entirely rebuilt in 1600, the fa9ade
being designed by Lunghi the younger. It has a
single nave, with 3 chapels on either side. Over the
high altar is a picture of the patron saints. As the
Quirinal Palace was within this parish, it was in former
days called ''Parocchia Pontificia,'" and it was the custom
to bury in a subterranean chapel, portions of the bodies
of the popes who died in the Quirinal. A list of these
popes is affixed to the wall of the church.
Feast day. — January 22.
viHCEMT and akasiabitjs were two martyrs, of whom
Anastasius, a Persian monk, suffered in the time of
the Emperor Heraclius in 614. He is said to have
been converted by the miracles occasioned by a piece
of the true cross, brought into Persia by King Chosroes.
He visited Jerusalem, where he suffered scourging
and imprisonment, and was beheaded on his return to
Persia with 70 other Christians. They were after-
wards removed to Rome. His proper attribute in art
is an axe.
The story of S. Vincent rests on what is generally
admitted to be contemporaneous evidence. He was
born at Saragossa, and was a deacon at 20 years old,
and preacher of the Gospel under Valerian. His in-
vincible courage under torment is expressed by his
name. He was the consolation of many who suffered
during the Diocletian persecutions carried on with
brutal severity in Spain by the Proconsul Datian.
When his own time came, he was tortured and placed
like S. Laurence, on gridirons. It is said that im-
mediately after his sufferings he experienced so much
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 351
solace and celestial delight that he called his gaolers
to enter and partake of it with him. He is patron of
many places, his memory being most venerated at
Chalons. In art, Vincent wears a deacon's dalmatic,
and carries the martyr's palm. His special emblem
is a raven or crow, sometimes perched beside him on
a milestone.
S. VITALE. — This church, in the Via Nazionale, is
the ancient Titulus Vestina, erected by the Roman
matron Vestina in 401 or 402. Vestina confided the
erection of her basilica to the priest Leopardus, the
restorer of S. Pudenziana and other churches. The
basilica and catacomb of S. Agnese were under the
care of this titulus, as was usual at that epoch.
Later, this ancient titular church was known under
the name of S. Vitale, to which saint and his two
sons, Gervasius and Protasius, it was dedicated. In
1475 it was restored by Sixtus IV., and again by
Clement VIII. in 1595. Up to the xvi. century, it
had a chapter of canons, and annexed to it was a
monastery and garden, in which were ruins supposed
to belong to the Temple of Quirinus. Its outer walls
still show traces of its original form, but its portico has
been walled up to form a modern vestibule. Carved
wooden doors lead from this vestibule into the church.
Feast day. — April 28.
The church is open for the Station on the 3rd Friday in
Lent.
B. YTtALta is said to have been a Roman soldier in
the army of Nero, and to have been converted to
Christianity by Peter. In the exercise of his duties,
he was seen encouraging and exhorting a Christian
sinking under torture, and for this Vitalis was himself
subjected to torture, and was afterwards burnt alive.
His wife and sons fled to Milan, where these latter
were martyred, and, the legend relates, the spot where
their bodies were laid was revealed to Ambrose in a
dream, who removed them to the church of S. Am-
brogio. S. Vitalis is patron of Ravenna. In art he
352 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
is portrayed as a Roman soldier upon a white horse,
carrying the Christian standard.
saints' rooms in ROME, AND LOCAL MEMORIES OF
EARLY CHRISTIANS.
Saints' In nearly all cases the rooms of saints have been
rooms. made into oratories. The many local memories of
Early the early Bishops of Rome, and those of the martyrs
popes and of the first 250 years have been noticed in their place :
martyrs, -p^^^ g^ Clement (106) is connected with his church
near the Lateran ; S. Pius I. (155) with the house of
Pudens on the Esquiline, near which was the dwelling
of his brother Pastor ; S. Callistus (220) with the
Piazza of S. Maria in Trastevere, where his house
was; S. Marcellus (304) with the church in the Corso,
given him by Lucina ; S. Mark (337) lived at the
cemetery of S. Balbina on the Ardeatina ; S. Felix II.
(antipope) retired to land of his own on the Portuense ;
Damasus (366) is connected with the church and house
at the theatre of Pompey, and the basilica on the
Ardeatina; Siricius (380) was a priest of the title of
Pastor; S. Boniface (418) dwelt at the cemetery of
S. Felicita on the Salaria ; S. Agata in Trastevere is
the house of S. Gregory II. (731). The local memories
connected with the lives of the martyrs are few : The
family of Pudens in the First century is connected
with the 2 sites on the EsquiUne, now S. Pudentiana
and S. Prassede ; the Apostolic Priscilla and Aquila
with S. Prisca on the Aventine. In the second century
Cecilia's house was in Trastevere ; Justin Martyr lived
in the Domus Pastoris on the Esquiline ; S. Felicitas
and her children dwelt by the Baths of Titus, where a
basilica, now in ruins, was erected ; S. Eustace, in
the reign of Hadrian, is said to have dwelt where his
church now stands. In the third century, Cyriaca's
house was on the Coelian Hill ; Martina is connected
with the site of her church at the Roman Forum ;
Susanna's paternal house was on the site of the present
church dedicated to her ; S. Agnes was taken to the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 353
Circo Agonale, where her church is now.* In the
fourth century, Paula's house was where now is S. Giro-
lamo della Carita, and here too is the one local
memory of the great Jerome, who visited her here in
A.D. 382 ; Eusebius, the Roman priest, a.d. 358, had
his house where now is the church on the Esquiline,
towards S. Croce ; while Proba had her palace on the
Aventine, and Marcella her dwelling on the same hill.
SS. John and Paul's house is now the church of that
dedication on the Coelian, facing the Palatine, In the
fifth century S. Paulinus of Nola and Therasia dwelt
by S. Felix on the Via Portuensis, where they built a
monastery and basilica ; S. Galla, whom Gregory the
Great calls " that most noble daughter of this city,"
had her dwelling where now is the church of her name,
near to S. Maria in Cosmedin ; S. Alexis, whose story
is however apocryphal, is said to have had his
paternal residence on the Aventine. In the sixth cen-
tury, the memory of S. Gregory the Great and of
Sylvia is preserved at San Sabba and at S. Gregorio,
facing the Palatine hill ; and S. Benedict resided on the
site of the little church in Trastevere called after him.
LOCAL MEMORIES OF THE SAINTS FROM THE
XII. CENTURY.
8. JOHN OF MATHA (Trinitarians) (ob. 1214) : His cell is over xui.
the arch of Dolabella, on the Coelian. century.
8. PEAHCI8 OP AB8I8I: First receivcd at the nuns' House of
S. Antonio, near S. Maria Maggiore ; then stayed
at the Franciscan house, S. Francesco a Ripa.
The latter room is shown.
8. DOMnnc: S. Sisto near Porta S. Sebastiano ; then
S. Sabina on the Aventine. The latter room is
shown.
B. BEioiD (Bridgettines) : Founded, and resided at, the xiv.
monastery in Piazza Farnese. The rooms are century.
* There is no precise local memorial of S. Laurence : S. Lorenzo
in Miranda, S. Lorenzo in Panisperna, and S. Maria in Domnica,
mav be referred to.
23
354 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
shown. Another site is the basilica and catacomb
' of S. Sebastiano, where she went with her
daughter to pray ; and S. Lorenzo in Panispema.
s. CATHERINE OP BiENA (co-protector of Rome) : Stayed in
Via di S. Chiara, opposite the present church,
behind the Pantheon. The wooden ceiling is
ancient ; the picture of Catherine is by Guercino,
the hands very delicate. This chapel, which is in
the House of the Istituto della Carita, is only
opened on her feast day. The walls of this room
are now removed to the Minerva, where they form
a chapel off the sacristy. Her body rests at the
Minerva.
XIV. to 8. FEANCEBCA EOMANA (Oblatcs) : Hcr house was opposite
XV. the present Church of S. Agnese Circo Agonale,
centunes. q^ ^.^g Other side; she was baptized in that
church ; founded her convent at Tor' de' Specchi,
near the Capitol (room shown usually on the
octave of her feast) ; and her family house was
the Palazzo Ponziani by Ponte Rotto, where now
is a chapel in the Via Vascellari, and her room is
shown. Here she lived most of her life, and here
she died. Her body lies at the church of her
name on the Forum.
Saints of s. charuss boeromeo: When in Rome said Mass daily at
the XVI. s. Prassede, and in this church spent much time.
RomT' '" ^® ^^^ ^^^° archpriest of S. M. Maggiore.
8. PIU8 V. : Occupied the room still shown at the Dominican
House of S. Sabina on the Aventine. His remains
rest at S. M. Maggiore.
8. lONATius LOYOLA : Lived first at S. Croce dei Lucchesi ;
then at the Gesu, where he founded the Germanic
College. At S. Vitale the saint also resided; and
he founded the House and Church of S. Andrea
al Quirinale. His body rests at the Gesu.
8. PHILIP NERi (" Apostle of Rome ") : S. Girolamo della
Carita, where S. Philip lived many years ; then
the Chiesa Nuova, where he founded the Oratory ;
also at S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, where the
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 355
Oratorians first congregated, and where Baronius,
afterwards Cardinal Baronius, was cook. SS.
Trinita dei Pellegrini, where he founded, in 1550,
the confraternity for the relief of poor pilgrims ;
S. Salvatore in Campis, which he frequented when
he first came to Rome. Tasso's Oak on the
Janiculum, and the avenue of Villa Mattei on the
Coelian, where he used to take young men for
recreation ; S. Sebastiano on the Appia, where he
spent days and nights in prayer. His body rests
at the Chiesa Nuova.
B. cAMnxus OP LEiiiB: Occupied a room at S. Maria Mad-
dalena, still shown. Here he is buried:
8. JOSEPH cAiASANcno : Both thcsc saints lived near the site
of the Church of SS. Dorotea e Silvestro, and
there inaugurated their orders. The site is not
shown. S. Giuseppe Calasanzio also occupied
rooms in S. Pantaleo, which are shown just as he
left them. Here his body rests.
8TAKI8LAU8 KosTKA: The room occupied by him at the
Jesuit House attached to S. Andrea al Quirinale,
and where he died, is destroyed, and a facsimile
room erected. Here his body rests.
8. LEWIS ooNZAQA: Resided at S. Vitale, at the Gesu, at
S. Andrea al Quirinale, and S. Apollinare ; the
rooms are shown : also at S. Ignazio, where he
died, and is buried.
s. JOHK BEECHMAHS: Occupied a room at S. Ignazio, and xvii.
one at S. Maria in Campo Marzio. Both are century,
shown. His remains repose at S. Ignazio.
8. JOHN-BAPTIST DE KosBi : (A Geuoese ; born i6g8 ; came xvm.
to Rome when 13 ; died 1764; beatification 1859; century
canonized 1881.) Was canon of S. Maria in
Cosmedin, where a room of his is shown ; he died
at the Trinita dei Pellegrini where his work was
to serve the sick poor. S. Galla, and the arch-
confraternity rooms attached to the Nome di Maria,
are also visible on the feast-day. May 23. His
remains rest at the Church of the Trinita.
23 — 2
356 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
B. BEOTDicT JOSEPH LABRE : Ob. 1 783. Nationality, French.
Lived in Via dei Crociferi No. 20, and died in Via
dei Serpenti No. 3. His body is at S. Maria de'
Monti. The rooms are shown on April 16.*
TRASTEVERE AND THE GHETTO.
The Jews of the Dispersion were everywhere the
first Christian converts : Jews living in Rome, in
Greece, in Asia Minor, in a separate community or
Tras- paroikia, subject to special laws. The Jews' quarter in
tevere. Rome at the time of Horace was the Trastevere, or
region over the Tiber,! where Philo speaks of them as
forming a separate colony. In the time of Claudius
they had another quarter by the Porta Capena. The
first Christians were often reckoned politically with
the Jews, and included in Roman edicts among those
following Jewish customs. As Gregorovius tells us,
the Christian society was a society within a society,
an unauthorized organization within the Jewish com-
munity which had a recognised political constitution in
the country of its adoption. The organization of the
Jews of the Dispersion at the inception of Christianity
IS therefore a matter of great interest, and detailed in-
formation can be gained from the Jewish cemeteries on
the Appia. In Rome especially it is remarkable how the
earliest Christian memories congregate in Trastevere.
The Ghetto, the walled-in township of the Jews,
which all visitors to Rome previous to 1885 will re-
member, was itself pulled down in that year. It was
erected by Paul IV., but the Jews had been settled on
the left bank since the xi. century. All Jews were
obliged to live there. The Ghetto ceased to exist, in
this sense, the day the Italians entered Rome.j
• The Churches mentioned should be referred to for descrip-
tions ; and the Order in the Part deaUng with monasticism, in the
case of Founders of orders. The rooms are always shown on the
saints' ov/n feast days.
t Trans, Tevere.
I M. Rodocanachi, ' Le Saint-Siege et les Juifs : le Ghetto de
Rome ' (Paris, 1891) ; and A. Berliner's recent work.
PAGE
.. 162
.. 168
.. 151
.. 163
.. 170
•• 173
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 357
LIST OF THE ROMAN CHURCHES.
The pages refer to those described in this Handbook.
(The asterisk is placed against those churches which, for one
reason or another, should be visited.)
(The obelisk indicates a chapteral church.)
S. Adriano
*S. Agata . .
S. Agata in Trastevere
*S. Agnese Fuori
"S. Agnese in Piazza Navona
"S. Agostino
"S. Alessio
S. Alfonso Liguori, Via Merulana, Redemptorists . . —
S. Ambrogio de Maxima, Piazza Mattei, Subiaeo Bene-
dictines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Anastasia 175
SS. Andrea e Bartolomeo, in the precincts of the Lateran
Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
•S. Andrea delle Fratte 176
'S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo . . . . . . . . 178
*S. Andrea a Monte Ccelio, vide S. Gregorio . . . . —
S. Andrea de Portugallo, Via dell' Agnello, confra-
ternity of S. M. delta Neve .. .. .. .. —
S. Andrea degli Scozzesi, Via Quattro Fontane, chapel
of the Scotch College . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Andrea della Valle . . . . . . . . . . 179
S. Andrea in Vincis, Via Tor de' Specchi, Ropemakers' —
Guild —
S. Angelo de Castro S. Angelo —
S. Angelo al Corridoio, in Leonine city . . . . . . —
S. Angelo Custode, Via Tritone, confraternity of the same
name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Angelo in Pescheria, near Portico of Octavia . . —
S. Aniano, Via Bocca della Verity, confraternity of S. M.
del Pianto . . .. .... . . . . . . —
S. Aniceto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
SS. Anna dei Calzettari, Via Salaria, Guild of Shoemakers —
S. Anna e Gioacchino, at the Quattro Fontane, chapel of
Belgian College . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
S. Anna in Via Merulana, Daughters of S. Anna . . . . —
S. Anna de' ParafreNieri, Porta Angelica, Guild of Pope's
Grooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
Spirito dei Napolitani
183
184
190
195
196
358 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Anselmo on Aventine, Head House of Benedictines
{now being built) . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Antonio Abate, Piazza S. Pietro in Vincoli, Maronite
Antonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Antonio di Padova, Via Merulana, new Mother House
of the Franciscans . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Antonio de' Portoghesi . . . . . . . . . . 182
S. Apollinare
*SS. Apostoli
*Ara Cceli
*S. Atanasio
S. Aurea, vide S.
S. Balbina
S. Bambino Gesu, Viadi S. Pudenziana, Convent and School
of the Child Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Barbara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
S. Barbara a Monte Ccelio, vide S. Gregorio . . . . —
SS. Bartolomeo e Alessandro, vide S. Maria della Pieta —
*S. Bartolomeo all' Isola . . . . . . . . . . 198
S. Bartolomeo de' Vaccinari, Via della Regola, Tanners'
Guild —
S. Basilio, Via di S. Basilic, Greek Sicilian Basilian Monks —
S. Benedetto della Ciambella, Via della Ciambella,
confraternity of SS. Benedict and Scholastica .. . . —
S. Benedetto, Via S. Niccolo Tolentino, new chapel of
Benedictine Nuns . . . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Benedetto in Piscinula . . . . . . . . . . 200
S. Bernardino da Siena, near S. Agata, Franciscan Nuns —
•S.Bernardo .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 201
S. BiAGio DE Cantu Secuta . . . . . . . . 201
S. Biagio de Mercatello, Steps of Ara Coeli, confraternity
of the ' Spina ' .. . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Bibiana 203
S. Bonaventura . , . . . . . . . . . . 204
S. Brigida, Piazza Farnese, chapel to the Carmelite Convent —
S. Callisto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
S. Camillo a Lellis, Via Veneto, Ministers of the Infirm —
Campidoglio, Cappella dell', on the Capitol . . . . —
•Cappdccini, t;i(i« S. Maria della Consolazione .. .. —
Caravita, Oratorio della, vide S. Francesco Saverio . . —
S. Carlo a Catinari, Piazza Catinari . . . . . . —
*S. Carlo al Corso . . . • . . . . . . . . 207
S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, church of the Spanish
Trinitarians . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
S. Caterina de' Funari, Via de' Falegnami, Girls' School —
S. Caterina in Via Giulia, Spanish Missionary Fathers 0/
Sacred Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Caterina a Magnanapoli . . . . . . . . 208
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 359
S. Caterina della Roota, Piazza Fainese . . . . —
*S. Cecilia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
S. Celso, Via S. Celso, near Ponte S. Angelo, confraternity
of the SS. Sacrament .. . . . . . . . . —
tSS. Celso e Giuliano, Via de' Banchi . . . . . . —
*S. Cesareo .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 213
S. Chiara, Via di S. Chiara, chapel of the French College . . —
S. Claudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
*S. Clements 214
*SS. CosMA E Damiano, Foro Romano . . . . . . 222
SS. CosMA E Damiano de' Barbieri, Via Barbieri, Nuns
of 3rd Order S. Francis .. .. .. .. .. —
SS. Cosma e Damiano in Trastevere . . . . . . 224
*S. Costanza, vide S. Agnese Fuori . . . . . . . . —
•S. Crisogono . . . . . . . . . . . . .fc . . 225
SS. Croce e Bonaventura 227
*S. Croce in Gerusalemme .. .. .. .. .. 139
S. Croce della Scaletta, Via Lungara, attached to Peni-
tentiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Crocifisso della Ferratella, Vicolo della Ferratella —
S. Crocifisso di S. Spxrito, Cemetery of S. Spirito . . —
S. Cuore di Gesu, Villa Lante . . . . . . . . —
S. CuoRE DI Ges£j in Castro Pretorio —
S. Cuore, Nostra Signora del, Piazza Navona . . . . —
S. Cuore di Maria, Via Palermo, Ladies of S. Heart of
Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. DioNisio, Via Sistina, Convent of French Nuns . . .. —
SS. DoMENico e Sisto 227
S. Doming Ros^e, or S. Caterina de' Funari . . . . —
SS. DoROTEA E Silvestro, Trastevere, Conventual Fathers —
S. Efrem, Via Quattro Fontane .. .. .. .. —
S. Egidio, Piazza S. Egidio, Carmelite Nuns .. . . —
S. Eligio de' Ferrari, Ripa, Guild of Ironworkers . . —
S. Eligio degli Orefici, Via degli (Drefici, Guild of Clock-
makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Eligio de' Sellai, near Island of the Tiber, Saddler's
Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. EusEBio 227
S. EusTACHio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
S. Filippino, Via Giulia .. .. .. .. .. —
S. FiLipPO IN Palazzo Massimo . . . . . . . . 230
S. Filippo in Scossa Cavalli . . . . . . . . —
S. Filippo in Via Sforza, Convent of Oblates . . . . —
*S. FrANCESCA ROMANA .. .. .. .. .. 230
S. Francesca Romana a Ponte Rotto, confraternity for
religious exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Francesca Romana, Via Sistina, chapel of Bohemian
College . . .. . . .. . . . . . . —
36o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Francesco di Paola, near S. Pietro in Vincoli . . —
"S. Francesco a Ripa . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
S. Francesco Saverio, ViadellaCaravita, chapel for religious
exercises for men . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Galla, or S. Maria in Porticu . . . . . . . . —
S. Gallicano in Trastevere, chapel of hospital . . . . —
•II GEsti 234
SS. GEstr E Maria, Corse . . . . . . . . . . —
S. GiACOMO IN Augusta, Corso, hospital chapel .. . . —
S. GiACOMO ALLA LuNGARA, church of Penitentiary .. .. —
S. GiACOMO IN Portico, Piazza Scossa Cavalli . . . . —
S. GiACOMO DEGLI SpAGNOLI . . . . . . . . . . 235
S. GlOACCHINO 235
"S. Giorgio in Velabro . . . . . . . . . . 236
S. Giorgio Piazza di Spagna, chapel of the English Sisters,
' Poor Servants of the Mother of God Incarnate ' .. —
S. Giovanni in Ayno, Via Monsenato . . . . . . —
S. Giovanni Bbrchma^s, Jesuit Austro-Hungarian College,
entrance by the Vicolo del Falcone . . . . . . . . —
S. Giovanni Calibata, Island of the Tiber . . . . —
S. Giovanni Decollato . . . . . . . . . . 237
S. Giovanni della Ficozza, Via dei Maroniti, chapel of
Polish College -
•S. Giovanni de' Fiorentini . . . . . . . . . . 237
"S. Giovanni in Fonte (Lateran baptistery) . . . . 99
S. Giovanni de' Genovesi, church of the Genoese .. . . —
*tS. Giovanni in Laterano . . . . . . . . . . 88
S. Giovanni della Malva, at the foot of Janiculum . . —
"SS. Giovanni e Paolo . . . . . . . . . . 239
S. Giovanni de Pinea, Piazza della Pinea . . . . —
*S. Giovanni a Porta Latina . . . . . . . . 239
*S. Girolamo della Carita . . . . . . . . . . 244
-S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni, Via di Ripetta . . . . —
S. GiULiANo de' Fiamminghi, Flemish Church . . .. —
S. GiULiANo IN Banchi, vtde S. Celso —
S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, Via Sicilia, Fathers of the "Scuole
Pie" —
S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, in Prati di Castello, Calasan-
ziane Sisters .. .. . . . . .. .. —
S. Giuseppe a Capo le Case . . . . . . . . —
S. Giuseppe de' Falegnami 251
S. Giuseppe alla Lungara, Fathers of " Pii Operai " . . —
SS. Giuseppe e Maria di Lourdes, Via Buonarroti, Sisters
of S. John of Cluny
SS. Giuseppe e Orsola, Via di S. Orsola, off the Corso.
chapel of Ursuline Nuns . .
S. Giuseppe. Piazza di Spagna, Fathers of the •' Scuoh
Pie" —
THE CHURCHES IN ROME
361
Scuole
*S. Gregorio
S. Gregorio de' Muratori, Via Leccosa, Guild of Masons
S. Gregorio de' Quattro Capi, Lay confraternity
S. Ignazio
S. Ildefonso, Via Sistina, Spanish discaked hermits of
S. Augustine
S. Immaculata, Via di S. Pietro in Vincoli, oblates of
Maria Immaculata
*S. Isidoro
S. Ivo, Via Ripetta
S. Lazzaro, under the Aventine, hospital chapel
SS. Leone Ivo e Pantaleo, chapel of the Sapienza
*tS. Lorenzo in Damaso
S. Lorenzo in Fonte, Via Urbana
•S. Lorenzo Fuori
*S. Lorenzo in Lucina
*S. Lorenzo in Miranda
S. Lorenzo in Palatio, vide Sancta Sanctorum
*S. Lorenzo in Panisperna . .
S. Lorenzo in Piscibus, in the Borgo, Fathers of th
Pie"
*S. Lorenzo in Vaticano, vide Part IV.
S. Lucia de' Ginnasi, Via delle Botteghe Oscure
S. Lucia Gonfalone, Via GiuHa
S. Lucia in Orfea, Augustinian Nuns
S. Lucia della Tinta, Via Tintoria
S. Lucia Vecchia, Via delle Carcere Nuove
*S. LuiGi de' Francesi
S. LuiGi Gonzaga, in Prati di Castello, chapel
A merican College . .
S. Macuto, Via S. Ignazio
tSS. Marcelling e Pietro
S. Marcello
•fS. Marco
S. Margarita, in the city wall near S. Croce
SS. Margarita ed Emilio, Trastevere, Franciscan Nuns.
S. Maria Addolorata, Via PagUa., confraternity of the name
*S. Maria degli Angeli
*S. Maria dell' Anima
S. Maria Annunziata, Borgo S. Spirito, arch-confraternity
of the name . .
S. Maria in Aquiro
S. Maria in Aracceli, vide Aracoeli . .
S. Maria Assunta, Via delle Mantellate . .
•S. Maria in AvENTiNO
S Maria del Buon Aiuto, near S. Croce . .
S. Maria del Buon Consiglio, Salita del Grille
S. Maria del Buon Consiglio, Via de" Coronari
PAGE
of South
255
142
257
259
261
262
262
265
267
269
270
362 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Maria del Buon Consiglio, Via S. Sebastiano . . —
S. Maria in Cacaberis, Coachmen's Guild . . . . . . —
S. Maria in Campitelli . . . . . . . . . . 271
S. Maria in Campo Marzio . . . . . . . . . . 272
S. Maria in Cappella, vide ad Pineam . . . . . . —
S. Maria in Carinis, Greek Melchite Basilian Monks . . —
S. Maria del Carmine, alle Tre Canelle . . . . . . —
S. Maria del Carmine, Piazza Costaguti . . . . . . —
S. Maria del Carmine, by S. Crisogono, confraternity of
Corpus Christi . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Maria della Clemenza, Vicolo del Piede, confraternity
of SS. Sacramento . . . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Maria della CoNCEZioNE (Cappuccini) .. .. 272
S. Maria della Concezione, near S. Maria Maggiore,
Carmelite Oblates . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Maria della Concezione, near S. Pietro in Vincoli,
Little Sisters of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Maria della Concezione, Via delle Sette Sale . . —
S. Maria della CoNSOLAZioNE, Piazza della Consolazione —
*S. Maria in CosMEDiN .. .. .. .. .. 273
S. Maria in Costantinopoli, Via Tritone, Sicilian con-
fraternity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Maria di Divino Amore, Piazza Borghese, Guild of
Mattress-makers . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Maria di Divino Amore, Via de' Prefetti . . . . —
*S. Maria in Domnica . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
*S. Maria Egiziaca . . . . ' . . . . . . . . 299
S. Maria delle Grazie, Porta Angelica . . . . . . —
S. Maria delle Grazie, Lateran Hospital confraternity . . —
S. Maria di Grotta Pinta, Campo di Fieri, Tata Giovanni
Hospital —
S. Maria del Latte, Piazza del Biscione . . . . . . —
*S. Maria Liberatrice . . . , . . . . . . 280
S. Maria di Loreto, near Lateran, Lauretane convent . . —
S. Maria di Loreto, Foro Trajano, Guild of Bakers . . —
S. Maria di Lourdes, vide S. Giuseppe di Lourdes . . —
S. Maria di Lutara, near S. Pietro in Vincoli . . . . —
S. Maria in Macello, Via Alessandrina, Brothers of Peni-
tence ..
S. Maria Maddalena, Piazza S. M. Maddalena
*+S. Maria Maggiore ..
S. Maria in S. Marco, near S. Marco
S. Maria ad Martyres, vide Pantheon
*S. Maria sopra Minerva . . . . . . . . . . 281
S. Maria dei Miracoli . . . . . . . . . . 285
S. Maria di Monserrato . . . . . . . . . . 286
tS. Maria di Monte Sanjto 286
S. Maria in Monterone, Piazza S. Eustachio
THE CHURCHES IN ROME 363
S. Maria dei Monti, Via di Monti . .
S. Maria in Monticelli, Regola region, Fathers of Chris-
tian Doctrine
S. Maria Navicella, vide S. Maria in Domnica . .
SS. Nome di Maria, Forum of Trajan, confraternity of th
name
S. Maria Nuova, vide S. Francesca Romana
S. Maria Orazione e Morte, Via Giulia, confraternity of
the name
S. Maria dell' Orto . . .. .. .. .. .. 287
•S. Maria della Pace . . .. .. .. .. .. 287
S. Maria della Pieta 289
S. Maria della PietX, Piazza Colonna . .
S. Maria ad Pineam, near Ponte Rotto
*S. Maria del Popolo . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
S. Maria in Porta Paradisi, Via Ripetta. .
tS. Maria in Porticu, Via di S. Galla
*S. Maria del Priorato, vide dell' Aventino
S. Maria della Providenza, Monte Testaccio . .
S. Maria in Publicolis, under the Capitol
S. Maria della Quercia, Regola region . .
S. Maria Riparatrice, vide S. Croce de' Lucchesi
S. Maria Mater Salutis, Vicolo del Corridoio . .
S. Maria della Scala, Trastevere, Carmelite Monks
S. Maria dei Sette Dolori, near S. Pietro in Montorio
A ugnstinian Nuns . .
*S. Maria del Sole, vide S. Maria in Cosmedin . .
S. Maria de Suffragio, Via Giulia, confraternity of same
name
S. Maria in Torre, on the Tiber, Fathers of Christian Doc
trine ..
S. Maria in Traspontina 291
*tS. Maria in Trastevere .. .. .. .. .. 291
S. Maria in Trivio, Piazza Trevi . .
S. Maria dell' Umilta, Via dell' Umilta, chapel of the
North A merican College
•S. Maria in Vallicella 295
S. Maria in Via .. .. .. .. .. .. 297
S. Maria in Via (Oratory), Piazza Poli, confraternity of the
SS. Sacramento
*+S. Maria IN Via Lata
S. Maria in Vincis, on the slopes of the Capitol, granted
to the Guild of Soapmakers
*S. Maria della Vittoria . . . . . . . . . . 298
S. Marta, behind S. Peter's, Pontifical Seminary . .
•+S. Martina 300
♦S. Martino ai Monti 302
S. Martino del Portico, by S. Peter's
364 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Martino degli Svizzeri, Colonnade of S. Peter's,
chapel of the Swiss Guard . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Matteo, Via delle Muratte, chapel of Salini Palace . . —
S. MiCHELE IN BoRGO, Piazza S. Pietro . . . . . . —
S. NativitX di GEst;, Piazza di Pasquino, confraternity of
Agonizzanti . . . . . . . . . . . . —
*SS. Nereo e Achilleo . . . . . . . . . . 304
S. N1CCOL6 IN Agone, Piazza Navona, African Missionary
Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Niccol5 degli Arcioni, Via degli Arcioni, confraternity
of Joseph and Mary .. .. .. .. . . —
S. N1CCOL6 DI Bari, Piazza S. Niccolo in Carcere . . —
*tS. Niccol6 IN Carcere . . . . . . . . . . 306
S. Niccol5 a Cesarini, Via dei Cesarini, Somaschi Fathers —
S. N1CCOL6 DA FuNARiis, Via Tor de' Specchi . . . . —
S. Niccol6 DEGLI Incoronati, Piazza Padella . . . . —
S. Niccol5 DEI Prefetti, Campo Marzio . . . . . . —
S. NiCCOl6 DI TOLENTINO . . . . . . . . . . 307
S. NoRBERTO, Via Agostino Depretis, Premonstratensians . . —
S. Omobono, near the Consolazione Hospital, Guild of
Tailors .. . . . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Onofrio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
*S. Pancrazio 310
S. Pantaleo, on the Esquiline, confraternity of S. M. del
Buon Consiglio . . . . . . . . . . . . —
S. Pantaleo, Corso V. Ema.nue\e, Fathers of the " Scuole
Pie" —
*tPANTHEON .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 311
Paolina al Quirinale, chapel of the Quirinal Palace . . —
•Paolina al Vaticano, vide Part IV. . . . . . . —
*S. Paolo FuoRi 112
S. Paolo alla Regola . . . . . . . . . . 312
S. Pasquale, Via Anicia . . . . . . . . . . —
SS. Pasquale e Quaranta, Trastevere, Headquarters of
Spanish Franciscans .. . . . . . . . . —
S. Patrizio, unfinished Irish church .. . . . . . . —
S. Pellegrino, by the Vatican . . . . . . . . —
SS. Petronio e Giovanni, by Farnese Palace, church of
the Bolognese .. . . . . . . . . . . —
*S. Pietro IN Carcere. . .. .. .. .. .. 313
*S. Pietro IN MoNTORio 313
*tS. Pietro in Vaticano . . . . . . . . . . 65
*tS. Pietro IN ViNcoLi 314
*S. Prassede 319
S. Presentazione, Via Milano, Sisters of Charity of the Pre-
sentation . . . . . . . . .... . . —
•S. Prisca 326
Propoganda ("Re Magi") 328
THE CHURCHES IN ROME
365
•S. PUDENZIANA . .
•SS. QuATTRO Incoronati
tSS. QuiRico E GiULiTTA, Arco de' Pantani
S. RisuRREZiONE, Under the Pincian Hill, Polish Resur-
rectionist Fathers . .
S. Rocco, Via di Ripetta
S. RuFiNA, Trastevere, Religious of the S. Heart
•S. Sabba . .
*S. Sabina
SS. Sacramento e Lorenzo, Via Condotti, confraternity of
the SS. Sacramento
SS. Sacramento e cinque Piaghe, Via dei Baulari, con
fraternity of the same name
SS. Sacramento, in the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel, con
fraternity of the same name
S. Salvatore in Campo, Regola region
S. Salvatore delle Copelle, Guild of Saddlers , .
S. Salvatore della Corte, Trastevere . .
S. Salvatore degli Invalidi, chapel of the Hospital of
S. Michele a Ripa ..
S. Salvatore in Lauro, near Via dei Coronari . .
S. Salvatore di Monti, Via Madonna di Monti . .
S. Salvatore in Primicerio, Piazza Fiammetti, confra
ternity of SS. Trifone e Camillo ..
S. Salvatore in Thermis, Baths of Nero . .
S. Salvatore in Turrim, by Porta Cavalleggieri
S. Salvatore in Unda, Via de' Pettinari . .
*Sancta Sanctorum, vide S. Lorenzo in Palatio . .
•S. Sebastiano Fuori . .
S. Sebastiano della Polverina . .
S. Sebastiano a Scossacavalli, Via Borgo Vecchia, con
fraternity of the Corpo di Crista . .
S. Sebastiano, Piazza di Spagna, private chapel of the
Dominican Fathers . .
S. SiLVESTRO IN BiBERATICA
•S. Silvestro in Capite
S. Silvestro, vide SS. Quattro Coronati . .
•S. Silvia, vide S. Gregorio
S. Simeone, Piazza Lancellotti, confraternity of S. Mar-
garet
SS. Simone e Giuda, Via dei Coronari
•S. SiSTO
•SisTiNA, i;2rf« Part IV
S. Spirito DEI Napolitani, Via GiuHa, church of the Nea
politans
S. Spirito in Sassia . .
S. Stanislao DEI PoLACCHi, Via Botteghe Oscure, national
church of the Poles ..
PAGE
328
332
334
334
104
135
338
338
339
341
342
366 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
*S. Stefano degli Abissini . .
S. Stefano del Cacco, Via S. Ignazio
*S. Stefano Rotondo . .
SS. Stimate, out of the Corso V. Emanuele, the confra-
ternity of the Stigmata. The present pope's mother is
buried here ..
SS. SuDARio, near the Gesu, chapel of the royal house of
Savoy
*S. Susanna
S. Tecla, chapel of the Hospital of S. Spirito ..
•S. Teodoro
8. Teresa, Via dello Scalone, chapel of the Carmelites
♦S. ToMMASO, Palazzo Cenci
S. ToMMASO in Formis
S. ToMMASo IN Parione, in that rione
SS. TrinitA, Via Condotti, Spanish Trinitarians . .
•SS. Trinita DEI Monti
SS. Trinita a Monticitorio. .
*SS. TrinitA DEI Pellegrini, Piazza Pellegrini . .
SS. Trinita dei Pellegrini (Oratory), Via delle Zocco
lette
SS. TrinitI e S. Tommaso, Via del Monserrato, chapel of
the English College . .
S. Urbano, Via Alessandrina, Benedictine Chapel
S. Venanzio, Piazza Ara Coeli, confraternity of the Cuore di
Maria
SS. ViNCENZO E AnASTASIO . .
•S. VlTALE
S. ViTO, on the Esquiline, Polish Monks
S. VoLTO Santo, Via Cavallini
PACE
343
345
347
348
350
351
CHAPTER IX.
THE CATACOMBS.
Introduction to the catacombs — Art — Symbolism — Inscriptions — Objects
found in the cemeteries — Specimens of inscriptions.
The word "catacomb " has been used for many cen-
turies to designate the Christian cemeteries. It is
formed from the Greek Kara, and the Latin cumba, cubo,
tnciimbo, and it thus means the locus juxta sepulcra, the
place by the tombs, or ad ccemeteria [Chnstianorum).'-^'
From the end of the iii. century, the name Catacunibas
was given to a region of the Via Appia which stretched
for about two miles from the present walls. But the
true name for the catacombs was cosmetermn Koifj.rjT'^piov,
the place where one sleeps. Compare the Epistle to
the Thessalonians, iv. 13.+ This name is the special
name given by the Christians to their burying places.
It rarely occurs among the pagans ; and then as apply-
ing to the individual sepulchre rather than to the
general place of sepulture. De Rossi notes a case in
which a sarcophagus is called KOIMHTHPION (" Roma
Sotteranea," i., p. 83.)
From Eusebius' "Ecclesiastical History" (vii. 11,
13) we know that the Roman emperors magistrates
and the people recognised coemetenum to mean the Chris-
tian sepulchres ; the imperial edicts speaking of " those
places which are called cemeteries."
* Another meaning has been suggested, deriving from (card and
K^ftPf) (Smith's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities).
t KoifM.u) = dormitum duco. Cf. the roots kh and quie.
368 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
According to the law which guaranteed as inviolable
all places of sepulture declared by their owners to be
religious, that is, appertaining to their cultus or sect,
/ everyone could make a religious locum at will.
It is of this provision of the Roman law that the
Christians took advantage in building their cemeteries.
" Religiosum autem locum unusquisque sua voluntate
facit, dum mortuum infert in locum suum."* " Every
person makes the place that belongs to him a religious
place at his own election, by the carrying of his dead
into it."
For a long time an erroneous opinion obtained that
the catacombs were originally arenaria, or the discarded
sandpits from which the Romans extracted the volcanic
sand called arena {now pozzolana). We now know that
the catacombs were of purely Christian origin, and that
all the Christian cemeteries were originally private
and family sepulchres, where the friends of the owner,
the poor, the wayfarer, and indeed everyone was
admitted on the sole title of being a brother in Christ.
Thus all the earliest cemeteries were instituted in
private names, as the property of individual Christian
citizens, and not as the property of the Church.
The catacombs consist of an immense network of
subterranean passages and galleries, usually intersect-
ing at right angles, sometimes winding, occasionally di-
verging from a centre. These galleries vary in length,
height, and width. The usual height is 8 feet, the
width varying from 2-^, or even less, to 4 or 5. The
roofing is sometimes horizontal, sometimes slightly
vaulted ; and is supported by its tufa sides in which
are cut the loculi, or tombs.
Soil. The region where the catacombs lie covers a radius
* (Marcian), Justiniani Digesta, i. 8, par. 4, De loco religioso. Such
a place was exempt from many of the laws regarding property ;
for example, it did not pass with the purchase of the land on
which it was to be found — " ad emptores non transeunt " ; so that
the right of access to the tombs remained with the vendors.
These places were loca religiosa according to Roman law, not
loca sacra.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 369
of some 3 miles outside the walls and left of the Tiber.
Its soil consists almost exclusively of volcanic rocks.
This rock, of diverse kinds and ages, is the ancient
tufa known as lithoid, semi-lithoid, friable, and granular,
according to its greater or less cohesiveness. It is in
this last that the catacombs are almost entirely ex-
cavated. The tufa granulare is a more recent deposit
than the tufa lithoide, and has been submerged.
As the Christian cemeteries were excavated in land Areae.
which was the private property of the owners and
excavators, if the land did not lend itself to excava-
tion, the sepulchres were built on the surface of the
ground and were then called area. This system De
Rossi tells us was adopted principally in Africa, where
such cemeteries were known as area Christiayiorum.
The area or land attached to the sepulchre of a single
family was not infrequently 2,000 feet long and 500
wide ; and enjoyed the same privileges as the monu-
menUim or sepulcrum. About the epoch of Constantine
open air cemeteries began to be made on the same
area which contained the excavated cemeteries. In
the second half of the iv. century the use of these open-
air burial places became normal." If however a
family possessed an open air monumentum, with an
area attached such as already described, it is clear that
galleries could from the very first have been opened
under such area by Christian owners.
These areas were beautifully cultivated, and came to
be called Jwrti, gardens ; hence we read that S. Timothy
was buried on the Via Ostia in horto Theonis ; S. Nico-
medes on the Nomentana in horto Justi ; S. Hilaria on
the Via Salaria in horto Hilaria. When the area was
small, it was called hortulus ; hence, on the sarcophagus
of a Christian man and wife, we find written : in sarco-
phago in hortulis nostris secessimus.
A synonym of hortulus is agellus, or agellulus, a
name we frequently find as denoting a private burial
place.
• De Rossi, Roma Sotierranea, vol. iii., p. 623.
24
370 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Hypo- Hypogeum* is the name given to the subterranean
geum. cemetery. All these terms signify a small private and
family sepulchre, either above ground or excavated
under an area cimiteriale, adjeda monumento.
Jerome calls the entire sotterranea crypta ; and hypo-
geum is usually employed for any region of a catacomb
composed of two or several tracts agglomerated as one
cemetery. The name for the entire area, including
whatever was either below or above ground, was
cmneterium ; even the basilica, oratories, or houses on
an area cimiteriale, were included in the denomination
ccemeteria. As an example of this usage we have in
the Liber Pontificalis an entry saying that Constantius
" misit et revocavit Liberium de coemeterio beatae Agnes
ubi sedebat." (Liber Pont, in Liberia.) The date of
this pope is a.d. 352-366. In the life of S. Boniface L
(a.d. 418) it is said that " Boniface lived in the cemetery
of Sancta Felicitas on Via Salaria." This extension
of the name cemetery gave rise to the common error
that the Christians inhabited the catacombs.
From the earliest times we find buildings over the
excavated ground, such as the villa of the proprietor
and its dependences, oratories and cubicula (see p. 380) :
and from the epoch of the Peace, oratories, chapels,
and small churches sprang up over the Campagna,
and in many cases were the origin of the great
basiUcas.
Their The number of the catacombs is about 45.! The
number, majority lie between the first and third milestones
outside the Aurelian wall ; intramural burial being
strictly prohibited by an enactment of the Twelve
Tables. It has been calculated that the catacomb
galleries in the immediate vicinity of the city would
measure 876,000 metres, or 587 'geographical miles —
a very small part of which has as yet been ex-
* iirdyaios, Kariyaiov, subterranean.
t In HI. century there were some 25 which belonged to the
Ecclesia Fratrum, and some 20 which were probably family
hypogaea.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 371
plored. Our knowledge of the extent of the galleries
is very imperfect, and therefore the attempt made by
P. Marchi to estimate the number of bodies buried
in the catacombs down to the end of the vi. century is
necessarily little more than guess work. He makes a
total of 6,000,000 bodies.
Further research has shown that 5 of the cata- Their
combs date from Apostolic times, and of the remainder, antiquity.
the greater number date back to the 11. century,
"nearly all the catacombs are contemporaneous in
their origin ;" while only about 6 small cemeteries
were excavated after the " Peace."
As the number of converts to the faith grew, it They are
was necessary to enlarge the first private and narrow enlarged,
burial places, and the work of opening up other
hypogaea contiguous to but independent of the first was
commenced. In the iii. century these various centres
began to be united by communicating galleries. It is
at this date that the cemeteries begin to be held as the
property of the Church ; though retaining for the most
part the names of their original possessors or founders.
Each cemetery then became attached, as the sepulchre
of that region, to one of the parish churches of the
city, distributed according to the 7 ecclesiastical
regiones.
From this time the catacombs became the openly ■■ Ecclesia
possessed property of the Ecclesia Fratrum ; for it is Fratrum."
by this name that the Christians first become cor-
porate and public owners of property, so that, as
De Rossi points out, when this day came they as-
sumed the name of Fratres simply as their designa-
tion.
Interment in these common burying- places* of the
Christian body signified from the first discipleship in
the faith, coheirship in the Christian hope. This feel-
* P. Garrucci tells us that in Palestine there was no idea of
common sepulture ; each individual had his own, or each family
their hereditary sepulchre (Gen. xxiii. 17-20; Isa. xii. 16.).
(Garrucci, Cimitero degli Antichi Ebrei in Vigna Randanini. Roma,
1862.)
24 — 2
372 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ing, which was strong in the iii, century, became later
an article of faith, and we find Hilary of Poitiers in
the IV. century interpreting the wonderful words, " Let
the dead bury their dead " as a divine admonition not
to mix with the memorials of the saints those of the
unfaithful dead.
Non admisceri memoriis sanctorum mortuos infideles.
It is certain that the sects also possessed their
cemeteries near Rome, even as early as the ii. and
III. centuries. Epitaphs from these are not wanting,
one having been found near the cemetery of S. Domi-
tilla, where an arcosolium with the effigy of Christ in
mosaic had this inscription of patripassionist savour,
"Qui et filius diceris et Pater in veneris " (Who art
both called Son and found to be the Father). It was
probably a Sabellian cemetery.
Fossores. As soon as the catacombs became the property of
the body Christian, a class of diggers arose, for the
purposes of excavation, called fossores. The fossores
were constituted from the minor clergy, and have
been identified with the minor order of ostiarii, or
door-keepers. From the first half of the iv. century
the fossores began to exercise an administrative juris-
diction over the cemeteries. At the end of this cen-
tury and the beginning of the v'*^ inscription-stones
record the purchase of burial spots in the catacombs ;
but it is supposed that money may only have been
paid for the sepulchre when the person desired
to purchase it in his own lifetime, since it is to these
cases that the inscriptions usually refer. This reign
of the* fossores as administrators ceased with the close
of the V. century, and Gregory the Great altogether
abolished "the ancient custom" of payments for the
sepulchres, a.d. 597.*
A.D. 253. The Christians however did not enjoy undisturbedly
even their cemeteries : edicts of Valerian and Gal-
lienus decreed that they should not hold meetings (con-
* 6 gold scudi is the price paid for a grave ante Domna Enter ita,
that is before the tomb of the martyr Emerita.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 373
ciliabtila) in any place whatever, or enter the cemeteries ;
and that anyone not observing hoc tarn salubre pmceptum,
should be beheaded." The faithful of all conditions,
with bishops, deacons, and presbyters, were arrested
and punished because surprised in the catacombs.
From the time of Septimius Severus we find the
Christians abandoning the well known approaches
and constructing new entrances and new stairs to their
cemeteries, so hidden that without the clue it was
impossible to find them.
Valerian had confiscated the cemeteries and goods a.d. 258.
of the Church, but at his fall Gallienus restored them. a.d. 260.
Forty years later the condition of the Ecclesia Fratrum
was more dreadful than before, the cemeteries were
again confiscated, and the buildings above them
destroyed. Yet this was the Eve of the Peace and final
triumph of the Church, and even now Christianity
was about to mount the throne of the Caesars, f
After the Peace of the Church the catacombs were
still visited for devotion, and restorations were com-
menced : the primitive physiognomy was changed, the
crypts were enlarged and made lighter — larger and
lighter stairs were built, so that the Christians could
easily visit the sanctuaries of the martyrs without
having to pass endless subterranean tracts. The early
highly figurative art of the catacombs began — but
slowly — to be more explicit, and the sound of the
chiseller's hammer long almost idle, was heard again.
The cemeteries assumed a new and triumphant aspect.
At this date also the burials began to diminish Constan-
rapidly, and took place instead in the basilicas and tinian
chapels built above ground ; around and within which epoch,
new cemeteries were made. De Rossi's tables of
statistics show that from a.d. 338 to 360 a third of
the faithful were already buried in this way ; while
from A.D. 364 to 369 it is calculated that only one
half the number of the dead continued to be buried in
* Quoted in the Acts of S. Cyprian,
t ArmeHini, Cimiteri, p. 119.
374 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the catacombs. From a.d. 373 to 400, a third only
are buried there ; from 400 to 409 the subterranean
inscriptions almost disappear ; from a.d. 410 there
are no further indications of burial in the catacombs.
After this date, foreign bishops and others sometimes
obtained the privilege of burial there ; but this also
ceases after a.d. 450.*
But the chief restorations of the catacombs were
undertaken by Pope Damasus, " the Pope of the
Catacombs " : he began by searching for the bodies
of those martyrs which had been interred and hidden
in times of persecution. We trace his work in every
catacomb, but especially in the series of inscriptions
in verse and prose placed at the tombs of the principal
martyrs ; of which many of the originals have come
down to us, while we have the text of many, and
fragments of hitherto unknown inscriptions are con-
tinually being found.
This is the epoch of the greatest expansion and
embellishment of the catacombs. It was now that
the era of the pilgrimages began. We must imagine
the impression which the catacombs made in those
days of the Peace on the Christian neophytes, pilgrims
from all parts, but especially Romans who read on
the still intact tombs the inscriptions recording their
own fathers, many of whom had died for the faith
of Jesus Christ. " Who can describe the emotion
which they felt at the sight of the sarcophagus in
which Cecilia or Agnes slept, or the boy martyr
of the eucharist Tarsicius. Or when looking on the
chair red with blood in which Pope Sixtus II. had
been beheaded, and not far away the tomb of that
very pontiff among 1 2 loadi of popes, all of whom had
been martyrs ? What glorious memories, what a
history of blood, of constancy, of heroic faith, were not
* The cemeteries above ground present no primitive marks ;
all the characters point to the middle of the iv. century for their
origin ; and the burials there cease after the middle of the vi. cen-
tury. But in the hypogaea there is no mark whatever of a period
as late as the vi. century, or even of the latter part of the v*.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 375
recorded in those tombs, altars, and inscriptions?"
(Armellini). And Jerome writes that the people of
Rome leaving the ancient temples covered with cob-
web and rust, and the gilded capitol squalid with dirt,
pour forth from the city and run to the tombs of the
martyrs.'-'
We find the record of these affections in the cata-
combs to-day. Wherever the plaister of the walls
remains intact, the galleries, the stones, the images of
saints, are covered with the names and prayers of the
pilgrims. These are known as the graffiti. They are Graffiti,
written by layman and cleric, men and women, of all
nations : they consist of acclamations, of simple names,
of prayers, and invocations directed to the martyrs —
sometimes left unfinished as if from the crowding of
the pilgrims.
The graffiti continued till the vii. century, up to
which time the catacomb sites were well preserved,
and are of great value in determining the more impor-
tant sites now.
The year 410 is notable as that in which Rome was History
besieged and sacked by Alaric. In the v. and vi. cen- ^^^^^ '^■
turies the Goths besieged the city ; the soldiery de-
scended into the catacombs, and with pickaxe and
maces destroyed all before them. They violated the
tombs and sanctuaries, shattered the Damasine in-
scriptions, and sacked the cemeteries of their treasures.
Pope Vigilius (538) in an inscription deplores these
terrible devastations, and attempted a restoration,
especially of the inscriptions. Under Vitiges, in 537,
the barbarians had surpassed themselves in havoc of
the cemeteries, so much so that in the Liber Pontificalis
it is recorded that " ecclesiae et corpora sanctorum
martyrum exterminata sunt a Gothis " (Lib. Pont, in
* He says he went every Sunday to visit the tombs of the
martyrs and apostles with other boys. " The walls on either side
of you as you enter are full of the bodies of the dead." There is
the occasional light of the luminaria above you ; then you go
onward, becoming immersed in " utter blackness of night."
Transla-
tion of
bodies
of the
martyrs
from the
cata-
combs.
A.D. 752.
A.D. 771.
A.D. 795.
A.D. 817.
376 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Silvevio). Interrupted by the wars of Totila, Vigilius
was succeeded by John III. in the work of restoration.
Johannes, says the Liber PontificaHs, " amavit et
restauravit coemeteria sanctorum martyrum,"
The invasion of the Lombards in the year 755
especially affected the suburban sanctuaries of Rome ;
and it was this frightful sacking which led Paul I. (757)
to open the sepulchres of the martyrs and remove
their bodies to the various churches within the city.
Thus opened the epoch of the translation of the
bodies of the martyrs from the catacombs, the sys-
tematic translation beginning under Pope Honorius
at the end of the viii. century. Those removed by
Paul I. amounted to over 100. A list of the names of
the martyrs whose bodies were then translated exists
in the crypt of S. Peter's, on a marble of about the
VIII. century; the names of the men together and those
of the women together (see S. Silvestro, p. 339).
Stephen III. and Adrian I. tried to reawaken the
devotion of the Christian people to the catacombs, and
to clear them of the earth and dirt which had accumu-
lated : birds' nests were to be found there, and many
crypts were transformed into stalls.
Of Adrian I. it is recorded that he left no one of the
suburban churches and cemeteries unrestored. In this
work he was succeeded by Leo III. But the city and
its suburbs were by this time reduced to squalor, the
faith was lukewarm in the Roman Christians, a bar-
barian population was superimposed on the ancient,
these things, the sackings of the Campagna, and the
invasions of Rome, together with the new uses and
customs, all lent their aid to forgetfulness of the cata-
combs, and finally to their total abandonment. Then
it was that Paschal I. was constrained to follow Paul I.
and continue the translation of the bodies of the
martyrs to the churches within the city. 2,300 bodies
were removed by him, and in S. Prassede* exists the
original record of what Armellini describes as that
• See p. 325.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 377
"colossal translation of a population of martyrs."
The date of Paschal's record is July 17, 817.
But more still remained, and Sergius II. and Leo IV. a.d. 844.
removed bodies of martyrs, as is recorded in the Liber *^'°- ^47-
Pontificalis under their two names. The original
inscription placed by Sergius is in S. Martino ai
Monti ; it tells us that these bodies were brought from
the catacombs of S. Priscilla, on the Via Salaria.
Relics however had been removed from the cata-
combs as early as Boniface IV. (a.d. 607-615), who
removed a large quantity to S. Maria ad Marty res
(Pantheon).
We may date the final neglect and abandonment to
the middle of the ix. century. Yet the abandonment
of the various catacombs was not made contem-
poraneously. Access could still be had to some of
them, that is to the crypts immediately under basilicas.
Nicholas I. attempted some restoration of the less a.d.
abandoned portions, but he was the last pope of the 858-867.
middle ages to undertake any works in them. From
this time through the rest of the middle ages we have Cata-
but few references to the catacombs. In the xi. cen- combs
tury we hear that a pilgrim obtained relics from " a ^"._^^^
certain custodian of cemeteries," and went down to a ^^^ ^
cemetery where " there were lamps always burning."-''
Being thus utterly abandoned, a hidden destruction The ruin
succeeded ; the walls gave way, the buildings above of the
fell in, water drenched the galleries through the ^^^\
luminaria or the ancient stairways. Thus in time with
earth or other debris the entrances became filled up,
and all access was impossible.
From this time the catacombs survived only in the
legends of pilgrims, " the rude and heated fancies of
the pilgrims of the middle ages." All was mythical.
The topography became so confused, the memories so
uncertain, that the site of the great catacomb of the
Via Appia that of S. CalHstus became lost, and the
* Calmet, Hist, de Lorraine, t. iii., where it is said that this
catacomb was S. Valentine.
378 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
generic name of catacombs was given to the compara-
tively insignificant sotterranea of S. Sebastian, which
was always known as S. Sebastian ad catacumbas.
On another ancient road, the Via Nomentana, an
opposite confusion took place ; the large catacomb
beyond the Basilica of S. Agnese being called the
catacomb of S. Agnese, a name properly belonging to
the small catacomb under her basilica. Names were
altered, history forgotten, the memories of one ceme-
tery intertwined with the memories of another, until
towards the end of the middle ages, in the books
designed for pilgrims called libri indulgentiarum, there is
no further mention of the catacombs of Rome !
In the XV. century interest in the cemeteries begins
to reawaken. In 1432, in a cubiculum of S. Callistus
Joannes Lonck wrote his name, and this is the first men-
tion of a visitor that we have. At the same time some
friars minor penetrated the same cemetery by some
newly made apertures, and they have left their names
in charcoal, with the date viii. June, 1433. The Frati
continued to explore that part of the catacomb until
1482, as w^e find their names during that period.
There is interest for us in the record that " mcccclxvii.
Quidam Scoti hie fuerunt."
A discovery by some workmen on Via Salaria in
1578 gave the first impetus to that great work of
excavation which has resulted in our own day in the
restoration of the catacombs and of their history at
least to the knowledge and piety of the visitor. At
about the second mile from the gate they came on a
subterranean gallery, intact, and rich with inscriptions,
paintings, and sarcophagi : one of these inscriptions
recorded, " Paolina santa riposante fra i beati." It
will appear wonderful that in spite of the interest and
admiration manifested the workmen were allowed to
continue their work, and the whole gallery with its
contents was destroyed.
But from that date the studious began to have access
to the catacombs. The Dominican Alfonso Ciacconio,
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 379
the Flemish Philip de Winghe, began to study the
pictures, and to take exact copies of them, until in
1592 de \\'inghe died. These copies have been recently
found by Monsignor Wilpert. Another young Fleming,
Jean L'Heureux, called Macario, studied and published
a book on the catacombs. (Macarii, Hagioglypta.)
Pompeo Ugonio, professor at Rome, was working at
the same time, and with him was joined Antonio Bosio,
then a young man. Bosio, a Maltese in origin, is the
first explorer and has been called the " Columbus " of
the catacombs. His book " Roma Sotterranea " was
published in 1632. '■■ Following in his steps, P. Giuseppe
Marchi, S.J., 2 centuries later, wrote a learned and
accurate work entitled " Monumenti delle arti Cris-
tiane primitive nella metropoli del Cristianesimo,"
Roma, 1844, 1845. The magnificent work of Louis
Perret, Paris 1852, 1853, published at the expense of
the French Government, is called the " Catacombes
de Rome"; and in our own day P. Marchi's most
celebrated pupil John Baptist de Rossi has completed
the work the former had hoped to accomplish, and in
3 great volumes (leaving material for a fourth) has
given us the complete collection of all the Christian
inscriptions yet found ; these amounting to 1 1 ,000 up
to the end of the vi. century.
Cut in the walls of the galleries are the loculi,^ the Interior.
* A charming little story relates that Antonio Bosio (bom 1576)
began his exploiations in 1593, and descending a part of the
catacomb of S. Domitilla, in the company of Pompeo Ugonio
and of altri gentiluomini curiosi on December 10 of that year, they
were not sufficiently provided with light, and he thought he had
lost the way ; but his only fear was ' ' di contaminare col suo
immondo cadavere i sepolcri dei martin "—that he might con-
taminate with his wretched body the sepulchres of the martyrs.
A knight of S. John, Johannes Andreas de Rubeis, often accom-
panied Bosio, and has left his name inscribed in the crypts.
Bosio's work was published after his death at the expense of
the order.
t The site of each grave when this was a niche not a sarco-
phagus was called locus. But the word loculi does not occur in
Christian epigraphy.
Cumicoli.
Cubicula
(CubicoU).
The cubi-
culum.
380 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
quadrangular niches or graves, of irregular size in 3, 4,
or 5 tiers, called bisomus, trisomus, quadrisomus, if
they were intended for 2, 3, or more bodies. These
loculi are closed by bricks or slabs of marble, placed
vertically and called tabula ; sometimes the tabula is
of brick and marble together ; if it is placed horizontally
it is called a mensa (table).
Another kind of sepulchre is the arcosolium ; this is a
table tomb surmounted by an arch hollowed in the
tufa, having the appearance of an apsidal niche. Some-
times there is a table tomb without the arched niche,
and these are called table sepulchres, the ancient name
for them being unknown to us. There are also graves
closed by slabs on the ground, as we see to-day in the
churches. When these graves are found above ground,
and divided into compartments, they were called forma,
each compartment being called loctis; but the name for
the similar subterranean grave is unknown.*
In Rome the galleries and corridors were called
generically cumicoli, but this name is never mentioned
in the Christian inscriptions.
But besides all these, there are small chambers called
cubicles or crypts excavated at the side of the galleries,
sometimes square, sometimes rectangular, or circular,
or polygon ; at times they are double, one within the
other or one at the side of the other, and then called
twin cubicoli, and some are quadruple, 4 together.
In the great Roman houses the cubicuhim was the
chamber reserved for private reading, or as we should
now call it the study. The word was also used in
pre-Christian times for small chambers near the tombs,
called cubiculum memoria and cubiculum superius ad con-
frequentandam memoriam quiescentium. In the catacombs
they were family sepulchres, being small and narrow
as the burial places of simple Christians, but larger
and lighter when they were the graves of the more
illustrious martyrs, to admit of a larger gathering of
persons.
* There are a few instances ofburialin marble urns.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 381
In these larger crypts the Christians held their
assemblies, keeping here the funeral anniversaries,
especially those of the martyrs, with chant of psalm
and the celebration of the mysteries. As these cubicula,
chambers or crypts, were designed for a special kind
of Christian assembly, they are very simple in form,
and without architectural decoration. As we have
said, their character was private, they were family
sepulchral chambers.
Armellini says that " il cubiculum cimiteriale deve
considerarsi come una vera chiesetta, come un piccolo
oratorio sotterraneo ove si celebrava la funebre liturgia
e il sacrificio eucaristico, e dove si tenevano dai fedeli
adunanze piia o meno solenni per gli offici di pieta ai
defonti." " The cemetery cubiculum should be re-
garded as in fact a small church, a little subterranean
oratory, where the funeral liturgy and the Eucharistic
sacrifice were celebrated, and where more or less solemn
reunions of the faithful were held, for the offices of piety
towards the dead."
From the date of the Peace many of these celebrated
crypts or cubicula became the nuclei of basilicas ; such
is the origin of S. Lorenzo, of S. Agnese, of S. Paolo ;
and among minor basilicas of SS. Petronilla, Ermete,
and Alessandro.
De Rossi points out that the word cubiculum should
not be applied exclusively to underground sepulchral
chambers, since sepulchral monuments above ground
were equally termed cubicula.
The cubicoli and crypts were aired by shafts, some-
times vertical, sometimes oblique. A shaft to give
light was called a luminare, and there were luminaria Lumi-
maj'om and minora. Cubicula so lighted were called naria.
cubicula clara.
Both the air shafts and the luminaria appertain to
the period of the persecutions ; and there are not want-
ing instances of the Christians being thrown down
them, and then stoned from the top.
The funerals of the Christians in the first centuries Funer-
alia.
382 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
were usually nocturnal ; it was a pagan belief that the
bodies passing by day under the sun would foul the
air. The Christian burial even in the times of perse-
cution and violence was not a gloomy or sad rite ;
though the Christians lived in the immediate sight,
often in the immediate danger, of death, the conception
of it as sleep, the birthday to a new life, passing through
the sleep of death, became so vivid that it overpowered
all the near and awful realities of violence and blood
and parting.
Hence we see their necropolis called Dormitorium
(Kot[ji.rjTriptov), and S. Jerome expresses the sentiment
of the faithful and the Fathers both of East and West,
when he says in his letter to Theodosius " in Chris-
tianis mors nan est mors, sed dormitio, sed somnus.'' "Among
Christians death is not death, but a taking of rest, a
sleep."
Nor did they call the departing from this world
dying ; but accersio,* accersitio. So S. Cyprian speaks,
and so, especially in the African Churches, pracessit,
recessit, came to be used meaning he died, she
died ; and in a very beautiful Roman inscription we
have accersitus ah angelis. In the same way depositus,
depositio was used in place of sepultus, sepultura, and
signified the gentle character of death, the waiting
character, the expectation and hope in it.
The funeralia themselves were quite unlike those
which succeeded in the perplexed and troubled times
of the middle ages, when the beliefs and rites of the
people were so often the reflection of their own mental
images for things, imposed on Christianity as dogma ;
ages, too, which differed profoundly from the first,
because their trouble and travail was that of minds
and souls, the perplexity awe and fear of rude un-
tutored minds, possessing neither the light and sweet-
ness of the first ages, nor the self-conscious assurance
of the Renascence. Exercitia sunt . . . non ftmera, says
S. Cyprian of these first Christian rites.
• Arcesso, arcessitus — to be called, summoned, fetched away.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 383
The first religious rite was the commendatio anima, the *^°"^™^'^"
name still in use to-day for the prayers recited for the ^^**°
dying ; these prayers as Le Blant has shown in the ^"^™^-
Revue Archeologique for October and November 1878,*
are of the greatest antiquity ; the Biblical allusions in
them form the theme of a constantly recurring cycle of
subjects painted or sculptured in the catacombs.
The Christians observed those natural rites common Rites of
to the most civilized peoples of antiquity ; and the interment,
customary Eastern rite of the unction of the body
with aromatic oils or balsams followed. Tertullian
says that even then Sabia and Arabia sent more per-
fumes for the unction of the bodies of Christians than
were needed to burn before the idols of the Gentiles.
By the iv. century the number of Christians being
greatly increased, this rite was usually reduced to a
mere ceremony, a few drops of myrrh and balsam being
dropped on the body. The little glass or clay vases
which were afterwards walled in by the side of the
loculi, served for this purpose ; and it is in the iv. cen-
tury that these abound in the catacombs. The body
was laid down with the arms resting at the sides.
Padre Marchi tells us that the greater number of the
bodies were enclosed in a layer of cement or plaister,
and that after 16 or 17 centuries this retained the
impress of two stuffs in which the body had been
wrapped, one of which was often very fine, while the
outer one was coarser. f This stratum of plaister was
rendered necessary for sanitary reasons, especially in
the subterranean galleries; but sometimes the bodies
were buried in richer garments and without the layer
of plaister. Towards the end of the iv. century it
became common for the rich to bury their dead with
precious stuffs. Sometimes too the rings of bronze
* " Les Bas-reliefs des Sarcophages Chretiens et les Liturgies
Funeraires."
t Prudentius, the Christian poet, says :
" Candore nitentia claro
Praetendere lintea mos est."
384 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
or silver or gold were left on the fingers, and in the
V. century some of the dead were buried with crosses,
medals, and reliquaries round the neck.* These were
Encolpii. called by the Byzantines encolpii. Coffins were not
used by the early Christians.
The funeral liturgy began where the death took place,
and ended in the cemetery. Psalms were recited, and
the Eucharistic sacrifice celebrated. The " Apostolic
Constitutions " say : " Assemble in the dormitoria,
reading the holy books, and -singing for the martyrs
who are fallen asleep, and for all the saints from the
beginning of the world, and for your brethren that are
asleep in the Lord, and offer the acceptable Eucharist,
the representation of the regal body of Christ, both in
your churches and in the dormitoria ; and in the
funerals of those who have fallen asleep, follow them
with the singing of psalms, if they were faithful in the
Lord." In the most ancient Latin liturgical code
which is pre-Constantinian, there is a distinction made
between the prayers and oblations for the martyrs and
those for the simple Christian ; the first are mentioned
as impetrating "ne in poena(m) veniamus excusent," the
second as being prayed for by the Church, " quae con-
_ solatione(m) indigent ecclesiae precibus absolvantur."
Tertullian calls the liturgy when celebrated for the
dead sacrificium pro dormitione, and enumerates this
among the traditional practices of the primitive Church.
The African Church which forbade all priests to mix
themselves with the testamentary provisions of the
faithful, to advise them or to attest their wills, made a
law anterior to the time of S. Cyprian that persons
who had called in a priest for such purpose should
not benefit by the sacrificium pro dormitione after their
death.
The sacrifice was offered at the tomb itself, the arco-
solium or locus where the body was laid. S. Augus-
• A strange custom obtained of burying the Eucharist with the
dead. This was forbidden towards the end of the vi. century by
the Council of Auxerre.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 38$
tine records his mother's words to her two sons :
" Place this body where you will ; let no care for that
disquiet you. Only I beg you to remember me at the
altar of the Lord wherever you may be." For her
soul was offered (pro ea) *' sacrificium pretii nostri."
" Jam juxta sepulcrum posito cadavere, priusquam
deponeretur." That is, " the sacrifice of our ransom
was offered for her, the body being already by the
sepulchre, and before it was deposited in it."=" So,
too, were the parents and friends of the martyr Agnes
offering the sacrifice at her tomb on the day week of
her deposition, when she appeared to them.
The procession to the grave consisted of the faithful
of all ages and classes, with faces\ in their hands,
singing hymns and psalms ; such was the procession
which carried S. Agnes :J to her pradiohim on the Via
Nomentana, "cum omni gaudio," and such was the
procession which was taking place at about the same
time with the body of S. Cyprian at Carthage " cum
cereis et scolacibus, cum voto et triumpho magno,"
with lights and songs, with solemn offering and great
triumph.
The catacombs may be called the cradle of the
Church. It is strange to find the Christian religion
which by its very subject matter surpassed all previous
faiths as the religion of a divine life and hope, laying
its foundations in catacombs. There in the place and
presence of death, the religion of hope and resurrection
began to live. And the possibility and significance of
this arises from the very views entertained by the new
faith concerning death ; it was mt death, in the accepted
• Confess., lib. ix.
t Fax, a torch. Among the Romans this term was specially
used for the torch carried before the bride on her way home.
But it was also used for the torch borne at funerals. " Inter
utramque facem " between marriage and death,
J By Roman law the body of the condemned was to be given to
whoipver asked for it for burial {Digest., lib. xlviii., 24, 3). Cadu-
veribus punitorum : corpora animadversorum quibuslibet petentibus ad
sepulturam danda sunt. This is the law by which the body of
Christ was obtained from Pilate.
25
Symbo-
lism and
inscrip-
tions of
the cata-
combs.
386 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
sense ; it was death transfigured by the most mag-
nificent of all hopes, the hope that man, through death
as through life, is '* a living soul," and like God Him-
self, "a Spirit."
Their Master had said "Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world." The first apostles had echoed
His words " O death where is thy victory ? Death is
swallowed up in victory"; and the first believers took
this sirh.ply, literally. They took death " cum omni
gaudio"; those who were tortured and martyred, those
who left their loved ones, those who laid those loved
ones to rest. The one prominent affirmation was that
man is more than his earthly Hfe, and that the prize of
life was greater than anything in life. It is recorded
in the Second Epistle of Clement that Peter inquired
of the Lord, " What if the wolves shall tear in pieces
the lambs?" and that He answered, "The lambs have
no cause to fear the wolves after they are dead." This
is precisely the teaching of the catacombs.
Christ's teaching was understood to mean that by
sacrifice, by loss, by apparent failure, the spirit will
in fact be renewed, that the life of the kingdom of
God is so vivid a thing that it springs up even from
death. The history of the catacombs and of the
martyrs becomes intelligible if we suppose that they
suffered not only as soldiers at a post, but as men con-
vinced that the success of human life may very well
consist with apparent human failure.
Macfarlane in his little book the " Catacombs of
Rome " notices the absence of all symbols of the cross
and passion and agony, the association of death only
with the gateway to life, and says : " Far from asso-
ciating with it images of torture and horror, they
endeavoured to enliven the tomb with bright . . .
colours. . . . Among all these funereal fragments and
remnants of the dead, you see no sinister symbol, no
image of distress or mourning, no sign of resentment,
no expression of hatred or vengeance ; . . . all . . .
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 387
breathe the sentiments of composure, gentleness, affec-
tion, and brotherly love." And again: "On the whole,
it may safely be assumed, that the catacombs destined
to the sepulture of the first Christians, for long periods
peopled by martyrs, decorated during the persecutions
of the Church, and under the immediate dominion of
sad thoughts and agonizing duties, do really offer on
all sides nothing but heroism in the historical pictures,
and in the purely ornamental part, nothing but grace-
ful and cheering subjects."
When we speak of the art of the catacombs, we Art.
mean that system of simple figurative decoration em-
ployed to represent the doctrines beliefs and hopes
of Christians in which it mainly consists. Following
directly on the first preaching of the Gospel so rich in
parable and the use of symbol as the special means
employed by Christ to enforce His doctrine, the
catacombs present nothing else but pictures of His
parables.
The cubicoli or crypts are the spots chosen for this
decoration, which is found round tombs of the arcosolia
type, and extends over the walls and roofing. The
most highly decorated portions of catacombs point out
the resting place of a martyr or martyrs. Though
highly symbolic, there is no conventionalism in cata-
comb art.
The biblical subjects employed have in nearly every
instance a symbolic meaning, and in considering them
we must bear in mind that the site of these decorations
was the place of sepulture, and that a large proportion
of the subjects represented are represented with some
reference to the state of the dead, and to death. The
antiquity of the liturgical prayers for the dead, and the
prayers for the dying, will be appreciated when we
compare them with the subjects which the first Chris-
tians painted in their cemeteries. For example these
prayers say :
" Libera, Domine, animam servi tui, sicut liberasti Noe de
diluvio."
25 — 2
388 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
" Libera, Domine, animam sen^i tui, sicut liberasti Isaac de
hostia et de manu patris sui Abrahffi."
" Libera, Domine, animam servi tui, sicut liberasti Danielem de
lacu leonum."
" Libera, Domine, animam servi tui, sicut liberasti tres pueros
de camino ignis ardentis, et de manu regis iniqui."
" Libera, Domine, animam servi tui, sicut liberasti Susannam
de false crimine."
Jonah. The subjects from the Old Testament are the fol-
lowing : Jonah ; this frequently repeated subject is
usually represented as a cycle — in the first picture of
the series Jonah is cast from the ship, and the whale*
waits for him ; in the second the whale casts him on
shore ; in tTie third he is asleep under the gourd ;f the
fourth represents his waking to find it destroyed.
In Christian symbolism this story typifies the resur-
rection ; perhaps also the soul received from the deep
and cast on the celestial shore.] Jonas under the
gourd conyeyed lessons of patience and encouragement
to the little band of men in " Nineve that great city "
who believed themselves entrusted with a divine
message to it, and that the destruction promised was
its moral not its material demolition.
Babylon in John and Peter's writings, and Nineveh
in catacomb symbolism, were then both early applied
to Rome.
The subjects representing the great deliver atices are as
Susanna, follows : (o) Susanna and the elders : this is also some-
times represented as a cycle ; the elders wait for her,
they swear on her head that she is guilty ; her inno-
* The "whale" is depicted exactly like the classical type of
the sea-monster in the story of Andromeda ; the same monster
may be seen in the decorations of Pompeii, and in the recently
discovered Station of the Vigiles (firemen) in Rome.
t Jerome's rendering in the Vulgate is " ivy," but in the cata-
combs it is always a gourd. Rufinus sarcastically remarks that
this great discovery of Jerome's should be published in the
cemeteries, that the dead might be disabused of the error in which
they had lived and died, that Jonah had slept under a gourd.
I Jonah is also considered now to have been emblematic of
martyrdom, and of the short passage of the martyr till he arrives
on the heavenly shore.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 389
cency is proved by Daniel. This is a figure of the
Church in the world ; and also of the new appreciation
of chastity introduced by Christianity. In the cata-
comb of Callistus Susanna is represented as a lamb
between 2 wolves ; her name is inscribed over the
lamb's head, and " Senioris,'" elders, near one of the
wolves. Susanna is here representing the lamb sent
among wolves of the gospel.
(b) Daniel among the lions : another type of the Chris- Daniel,
tian's sufferings and his divine deliverance. Daniel fed
by Habbacuc occurs also.
(c) The Three Children in the five : the meaning is the The 3
same, with special reference to the demand to sacri- children,
fice to idols.
(d) The Sacrifice of Isaac : the sacrifice of Christ. It Isaac,
is also probably intended as a type of " the unbloody
sacrifice," the Eucharist ; for Isaac is in fact more a
type of the latter than of Calvary, for he was not
really offered. One of the meanings may be that the
Christian's true oblation is of self, is the will. Some
reference to the resurrection from the dead is also
probably implied, for in Heb. xi. 19 we read, " ac-
counting that God is able to raise up even from the
dead. Whence also he (Abraham) received him for a
parable."
(e) Noah in the ark : the ark like the ship has always Noah.
been a type of the Church, but it is also typical of the
waters of baptism. The deluge " cleansed the earth
from all its iniquities," and we find S. Ambrose assert-
ing that the deluge was rather " a regenerating bap-
tism " for the world than a punishment. S. Peter
employs the ark as a figure of the souls now saved by
baptism (i Pet. iii. 20, 21). The representations show
that this subject is often intended to signify being
saved in the ark of the Christian Church.
Moses striking the rock : meaning the waters of bap- Moses.
tism, the graces of salvation through Christ generally.
" That Rock was Christ."
Adam and Eve after the Fall: this subject was Adam
and Eve.
Parables.
Miracles.
Scenes
from the
Gospels.
Scenes
from
common
life.
Symbols.
390 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
intended to signify the common law of death, the
promise of a reparation, and the redemption."-
The New Testament subjects employed are Parables:
(a) Ego sum Pastor Bonus (vide infra), (b) The
prudent virgins.
Miracles : The healing of the paralytic. The woman
with the issue cleansed. The raising of Lazarus.
The multiplication of the loaves. The healing of the
blind man. The change oT water into wine.
Scenes : Christ talking with the woman at the well : this
the longest conversation of our Lord's recorded in the
Gospels, is a very favourite subject ; it refers no doubt
to what He says of the water of eternal life, and to
His revelation of Himself to the Samaritan as the
Christ for whom both nations looked. The offerings of
the Magi (see Epiphany, Part H.). The baptism of Christ
in Jordan. The Supper at Emmaiis. The Supper on tJie
Shore of Lake Tiberias, after the Resurrection. The An-
nunciation (once).
Scenes other than biblical and symbolic are very
rarely found in the catacombs ; a shipping scene in
the Pontian cemetery, a fossor at work, a woman
selling vegetables, with one or two more, and perhaps
one or two instances of the agape which have no refer-
ence to the Eucharist, complete the list.
All explanation of the symbolism of the catacombs
must take account of the disciplina arcani,\ or discipline
of the secret, which existed in the Church in the first
centuries, and which not only aimed at keeping the
extent of the mysteries from the knowledge of the
Gentile world, but was also exercised as between the
baptized and the catechumens in the Church itself.
The disciplina arcani is the key to much in the early
symbolism, early literature, and liturgy of the Church,
* A new subject was found in the cemetery of Eugenia on the
Via Latina : Job is in fact referred to in the prayers for the dead
— " Sicut liberasti Job de passionibus ttiis " (as Thou didst liberate
Job from his sufferings), and in this catacomb he is represented
on the dupg heap ; the only instance of the subject.
t See Part II.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 391
which would be otherwise obscure or even unintel-
ligible.
The most beautiful and one of the most frequent Pastof
images in the catacombs is that of the Good Shepherd. Bonus.
Standing surrounded by His sheep, or with a lamb on
His shoulder, or a sheep, or a goat, Christ, young and
gracious, as in all the very earliest Christian art, is
represented in every part of the catacombs of Rome.
The allusion to Him as the Shepherd of His sheep and
the lover of souls, and to His own application of this
image, is obvious.
Sometimes this beautiful figure is represented as we
have seen "caring for the sheep," perhaps with a
shepherd's lute also or leaning on his shepherd's crook ;
but most often carrying the lamb on his shoulders.
This image became very popular in the early iii.
century, when Zephyrinus and Callistus cited it in
the controversy with the Montanists, who protested
against the reconciliation of penitents. It was even,
engraved on the Eucharistic Cups. A recent writer
on symbolism notices that although this image was so
appropriate, and clearly afforded so much delight to
early Christian minds, it was unknown after a.d. iooo,
and is never seen between the xi. and xvi. centuries.
The most common of all catacomb images is the Orante.
orante, or standing figure of a woman, or man, with the
hands extended, in the ancient attitude of prayer —
" lifting up holy hands."
The great majority of these figures are female ;
they are of peculiar dignity and solemnity ; draped in
the stola or long garment to the feet, and facing the
spectator, these oranti look out upon us in crypt after
crypt of the Christian cemeteries with a grave sig-
nificance. They personify the soul ; and the deceased
person, man or woman, is often represented by an
orante. They signify prayer. The extended arms
have also an allusion to the Passion, as both S. Maxi-
mus in his 56th sermon De cnice and TertulHan Dc
oratione cap. xi., record. •
392
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Such a figure was common also in classical times ;
and here too the figures were nearly always female.
A female orante with a male figure on either side is a
type of the Church."''
Anchor. Anchor. — The most ancient of all the Christian
emblems is the anchor ; in the very earliest catacomb
inscriptions it occurs as the only ornament. It
denoted hope, and also immovable firmness and
patience. Here in the catacombs, and to the first
Christians, its appropriateness in drawing attention to
the new hope that had arisen in their hearts, and to
the immovability of their lives so anchored, is evident.
It was also probably from the first an occult image of
the cross : when birds are directing their flight towards
the anchor, the anchor there represents the cross.
Compare also the prayer in the commendatio anitna in use
to-day, " Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum in loco speranda
sihi salvationis a misericordia tua." Receive Lord Thy
servant into a place of hope of his salvation from Thy mercy.
Fish. Fish, — The fish is a symbol found from the very
origin of Christianity, f and has a double signification :
(i) It represents the newly baptized soul, the Christian
regenerated in baptism ; (2) it represents Christ Him-
self, and as such is mentioned by TertuUian and
Augustine. The special meaning here is the Person
of Christ under the Sacrament of the Eucharist ; and
by it the first Christians expressed the mystery by
which Christ becomes the food of man.
Pisciculus. Abercius speaks of the " Great and pure Fish," thus
distinguishing between the Fish as emblem of Christ,
and the pisciculus, the little fish, the Christian re-born
by baptism.
* The Madonna is often represented as an orante, and this
mode of representing her was in use in the church till the
XI. century. A MS. in the Barberini Library has an orante with
the word Ecclesia written over it. Figures of the Church and of
Mary have often been interchangeable, as was first done in the
Apocalypse.
+ As an attribute in pictures it denotes great converting and
baptizing bishops; Gregory the Great sometimes has this emblem.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 393
IcTHUS. — The anagram for Christ taken from the Icthus.
Greek word for a fish IX0Y2, Icthus, was used as
early as the iv. century, but only in Latin monuments.
The letters forming the word are the first letters of
'li](Tov^ XpicTTos Qfov Ytos 2wTi//), Jesiis Christ son of God
Saviour. The Icthus then is Christ, the pisciculus the
Christian.
In the catacombs the symbol of a fish occurs alone
on inscription stones ; grouped in fishing scenes ; and
finally in eucharistic scenes. This archaic symbol of
Christ falls into disuse after the first half of the
III. century, is very rare in the second half, and dis-
appears with the end of the persecutions."''
Dolphin. — These animals were anciently considered Dolphin.
the friends of man and of sailors ; they were supposed
to accompany the latter in storms. In all antiquity
the real or fabulous qualities of the dolphin are praised ;
among the Greeks it was the saviour of the ship-
wrecked ; and this special quality as a saviour made it
a favourite fish emblem with the Christians. It has
been found supporting on its curved back the ship of
the Church.
Trident and Dolphin. — In a cubiculum in S. Cal- Trident
listus, a dolphin is represented entwined with the cross, ^^^
occultly represented as a trident. In a recent dis- °°^P"i"-
covery in the Ostrian cemetery a dolphin is in the act
of devouring a serpent.
Ship. — An infrequent symbol. It is a figure of the Ship.
Church, and of the arrival of the soul at the port of
eternal beatitude. The pagans employed it as an
emblem of human life. The symbolism of life drawn
from the sea is well understood ; sometimes the mean-
ing of the ship is made clearer by a lighthouse tow^ards
which the boat sails. Hippolytus says : " The world
is a sea, in which the Church like a ship is beaten by
the waves, but not submerged."
* The form called vesica piscis, from the shape of a fish, has
been adopted as the usual form of ecclesiastical seals, and as an
aureole or nimbus, and is reserved for peculiarly sacred subjects.
Vase.
Birds.
394 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Vase. — The vase or cup is a symbol of refreshment;
S. Perpetua Martyr makes this use of it in her vision
as described by herself. S. Augustine says : " Jam
ponit spirituale os ad fontem domini et bibit quantum
potest" (Confess, ix. 3). Already he places his spiritual
mouth to the Lord's fountain, and drinks as much as
he will. The cup with wine in it, in allusion to the
Eucharist, is much more rare ; though it is found in
union with the basket of loaves on the fish's back. In
Bird and
mono-
gram.
Peacock.
t
the catacomb of Cyriaca we have dionisi vas
Dionyse vessel of Christ.
Birds. — In catacomb symbolism a bird means the
soul, or, in general. Christians ; with this signification
birds constantly appear in early Christian art. In
the cemeteries they are employed in various ways,
as follows : (a) They appear in a garden, or perched on
trees, and then always symbolize the soul in the joys
of paradise. Many cubicoli are rich and glowing with
such decoration. Two trees with a large bird on each
conventionally express the idea ; and these are found
sometimes by the Pastor bonus, sometimes in other
scenes, and also by the saints and martyrs, {b) On
inscription stones, and then usually pecking at bread,
or with a piece of palm or olive — representing the soul
fed by the eucharist, or having triumphed, or the soul
in peace, {c) Drinking from a cup, pecking at a grape,
or perched on a cup or bowl ; and then the meaning is
the same as {a) refreshment : that refrigerium which is
the commonest of all the ideas expressed in the cata-
combs.
Bird and Monogram. — The union of this emblem
of the soul with the monogram of Christ signifies
spiritus tuns in pace in Christo.
Peacock. — The peacock which occurs frequently is
an ancient pagan symbol, and, as the bird sacred to
Juno, denoted the apotheosis of an empress. By the
early Christians it was adopted as a sign of immor-
tality, and occurs in the catacombs and on tombs till
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 395
the IV. and v. centuries. It represents the soul of the
deceased person itself, and we have an instance of a
peacock with the name of the person over it, arcadia ;
hence spirit in immortality.
Dove. — The special emblem of the Christian soul ; Dove,
as the ornamentation of decorated crosses, the apostles
are generally intended. It occurs in the catacombs as
representing the Holy Spirit, noticeably in a Baptism
of Christ, where He is represented as a child, the dove
on His head.
Phcenix. — In the acts of Cecilia, it is said that she Phoenix,
had a phcenix sculptured on the sarcophagus of
Maximus, as a symbol of the Resurrection. It is
found in the oldest areas of CalUstus, but in the 11. and
part of the iii. century had not become common. But
it is not so rare as supposed. Some of the so-called
doves in the catacombs are really phoenixes, and we
have instances of both, with phcenix written over the
latter. The proper distinction is that the dove has an
olive branch in its beak, the phoenix a palm branch.
The phoenix may or may not have a nimbus. Both
pagans and Christians had legends connected with this
bird {(fioivi^).
Pelican. — The pelican vulning herself is one of the Pelican,
most lovely of the emblems of Christ and of the re-
demption, and is an early one. A Christian hymn, in
use to-day, gives our Lord this name : Pie Pelicane,
Jesu Domine.'''
Horse. — This emblem occurs on inscription stones; Horse,
the allusion is to the Christian Hfe as a race. To have
run in a good race : " I have finished my course."
Sheep, Hind, and Hart. — The sheep as we have sheep,
seen represents the flock of Christ. A hart or hind hind, or
drinking represents the well known words of the ^^'''•
psalmist, " as the hart desires the fountains of waters,
so does my soul pant after thee, O God." These
* This symbol came into general use from the vision of Ger-
trude, who saw Christ under this form feeding mankind from His
breast.
396 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
animals drinking from the river Jordan personify the
Christian soul. In art they typify piety and religious
aspiration, and so in the catacombs they signify the
faithful.
Palm. Palm. — The palm is rare in the most ancient in-
scriptions, where it is considered to be invariably the
sign of a martyr, but very frequent later. It is an
ancient classical emblem of triumph and victory, and
was early adopted by the Christians as the universal
symbol of martyrdom (Apocal. vii. 9).
Olive. Olive. — The oUve in liturgical literature and in
decoration signifies unction, and peace. The soul
"anointed with the oil of gladness;" the emblem of
peace after the deluge.
Fruit and Fruit AND Flowers. — All fruit and flowers repre-
flowers. sent the celestial garden, paradise.
Nimbus. NiMBUs. — The nimbus or glory round the head of
Christ and the saints is spoken of by Isidore and others
as signifying the light of eternal glory with which the
Redeemer and the Saints are crowned in heaven.
The nimbus, in use among the pagans as the symbol
of power and hence of divinity, was copied from them
by the Christians. In Byzantine art it is always the
attribute of power, and from the ix. to the xiii. cen-
turies appears on the head of Satan, of prophets
kings and bishops and of Judas, as the attribute of
power or of office. In the mosaics of S. Maria Mag-
giore it appears on the head of Herod.
The nimbus first appears in the iv. century for
Christ and the Blessed Virgin, and over the heads of
Peter and Paul''= (De Rossi). In the v. century the
nimbus is sometimes used, and sometimes not. After
this it becomes general. A figure in the Liberian
region of the catacomb of Callistus, attributed by
De Rossi to the late iv. century, wears the nimbus ; it
probably represents the Blessed Virgin, as it seems to
* It must be remembered that earlier than this it would not
have been safe for the Christians to invest their pictures with the
symbol of power and divinity.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 397
be a female figure, or it may represent the Redeemer.
The nimbussed figure is seated between 2 standing
figures, and on the ground are two scroll-cases.
The cruciform nimbus is proper to the Trinity or to
Christ ; for the Trinity a triangular nimbus is also
used. In Italy an ohlojig or almond-shaped nimbus, as
long as the person, is employed for pictures of our
Lord and of Mary.='' It is occasionally used in pic-
tures of Saints ascending to heaven. From the v. to
the XII. centuries the nimbus Avas a plate or disc over
the head ; from the xii. to the xv. century it is a broad
gold band behind the head, sometimes with the name
inscribed, or gemmed. The nimbus is sometimes of
various colours, blue, green, and red, but there is no
uniform application of any rule in the use of them.
A sqiiare nimbus denotes a living person.
Crown. — A crown is the symbol of victory and Crown,
recompense. Among the early Christians it was the
special adornment of dedicated women ; the virgins
were all crowned at their profession. Among the
Hebrews a crown was used for the bride, and among
the first Christians it signified a bride of Christ. The
crown is likewise the emblem of a martyr ; as martyrs,
women in early art generally wear it, and men generally
carry it in their hands. S. Barbara and S. Cecilia in
later art habitually appear crowned. It is also of
course worn as an attribute of royalty by kings and
queens. It is one of the apocalyptic emblems.
Some Modern Emblems. — In more modern art a Some
sword represents martyrdom. The axe, club, lance, modem
arrows, appear as attributes to the saints who have died emblems,
by these instruments. A shell means pilgrimage, James
the Greater and S. Roch appear with it. Adrian is the
only martyr who appears with an anvil. A skull repre-
sents penance. A standard means spiritual victory
over death, idolatry, and sin. It appears in the hand
of Christ after the Resurrection. f Mihtary saints, and
* See Vesica piscis, p. 393 7iote.
t Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art.
398 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
those who preached the Gospel among the heathen
bear it. Of women saints 2 bear it, Ursula, and
Reparata. A unicorn is a symbol of purity, on account
of the legend that it could only be captured by a virgin
" stainless in mind and life." It appears only for the
Blessed Virgin and S. Justina. A book represents
learning and is the attribute of Evangelists, apostles,
and doctors of the Church, A church signifies that the
saint who holds it is the founder or first bishop, some-
times the protector. A scourge like the skull repre-
sents penance ; in the hands of Ambrose it means the
penances he imposed on Theodosius and others. A
/laming heart denotes fervour and love : in very modern
art this emblem has been vulgarised. The Chalice and
Host represent Faith. A lamp or lantern or taper means
piety, and also wisdom. Lucia has it. as denoting
celestial light or wisdom ; Gudule, Genevieve, and
Bridget also bear it. The apple in the hand of the
Redeemer or of the Blessed Virgin signifies Redemp-
tion. The pomegranate being the emblem of the future,
means the hope of immortality. A rose is a symbol of
the Madonna''' ; Cecilia and Rosalie wear a wreath of
roses. A lily is emblematic of innocence and purity.
Symbol of SYMBOL OF THE LioN. — The lion which occurs
the lion, especially in architecture, is an ancient Christian
symbol. It is placed in the porch of many churches,
sometimes with an animal or a man in its paws; and
the great pulpit in Siena Cathedral is supported on
lions devouring sheep or kids. The lion is emblematic
of Christ, because in prophecy He is spoken of as the
lion of the tribe of Juda. In the middle ages the
lion was a type of the resurrection on account of the
popular superstition that the young lion is born dead,
and in 3 days is vitalised by the breath of its sire. It
is a hermit's emblem, representing the desert, and as
a sign of fortitude is placed at the feet of martyrs who
suffered with peculiar courage ; Natalia and Adrian are
so represented. At the feet of an abbot or bishop, it
* " Thou art the Rose of Sharon, and the Uly of the valley."
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS
399
signifies that he reclaimed waste lands "and substi-
tuted Christian culture and civilization for the lawless
hunter's life."''= When all this symbolism was for-
gotten, the " symbolism became an incident."!
CONSTANTINIAN MONOGRAM OF CHRIST.
This is the monogram ^^ formed of the Greek chi
and ro, ch and r. The legend is that such a monogram
appeared in the sky to Constantine and occasioned his
conversion. It came into general use as the Christian
emblem in his time and it is hence called the Con-
stantinian monogram. It may be considered in a cer-
tain sense the monument and historical echo of the
great event which changed the face of the Roman
world, " in certo modo I'eco monumentale e storico del
grande avvenimento che muto faccia al mondo romano,"
namely the conversion of Constantine.
It is employed, though sparsely, before this period,
but then only as a cryptogram of Christ to finish off an
inscription. But after the Peace it is used as a mark
of the Triumph of the Church, " come nota e marca
trionfale "; from this time it heads inscriptions, and is
no longer a cryptogram but a standard.
More ancient than
t-^^%
the two first
letters of Jesus Christ, I(?7o-ovs) X(/)io-tos). The mono-
grammatic cross between A 12 from which it is
-f
A I U)
never found detached belongs to the first part of
* Mrs. Jameson. t I^''^-
400 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the IV. century. In the late iv. century appears the
monogrammatic cross in a circle, thus ( — K— ) . In
the V. century the Constantinian Monogram is the
more common in Rome. The name of Christ seldom
occurs in the catacombs ; the cryptogram is employed
to express it : m pace ^Z = in the peace of Christ,
in peace in Christ. '■'
Orpheus. Orpheus. — Orpheus sitting amidst the animals, or
charming them with his harp, is a Greek myth adapted
by the first Christians, and four examples of it are to
be found in the catacombs. The early Fathers allude
to it as substituting the Pastor Bonus of the parable.
It is Jesus Christ calling mankind, charming the world
with the music of his voice. In one or two instances
there are tame animals on one side of him, as birds,
the peacock, the camel, and fierce animals on the
other ; and this typifies the two kinds of men called
and charmed, the good who follow Christ by a kind of
affinity, the evil whose passions He overcomes by His
own charm. Or it represents His voice on the one
hand to the faithful, on the other to the Gentiles, f
* The name Jesus is still more rare. From S. Domitilla
comes: AHMHTPIC ET AEONTIA CEIPIKE •I'EIAIE BEXE-
MERTI MNHCOHC IHCOTC 0 KTPIOC TEKXON.
Demetrius and Leontia to Sirica their well deserving daughter.
Remember, Lord Jesus, the child.
Another is : Regina, vibas in Domino Zesu.
Regina, mayest thou live in the Lord Jesus.
Notice the mixture of Greek and Latin words in the first ; and
that Lord is inserted before Jesus each time. For other instances
see the Catacomb of Domitilla, p. 505.
t Clement of Alexandria exclaims: "Behold the might of the
New Song ! It has made men out of stones, men out of beasts.
Those that were as dead, not being partakers of the true life,
have come to life again, simply by being hearers of this song."
(Referring to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.)
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 401
SYMBOLS AND SCENES OF THE EUCHARIST.
The simple eucharistic symbols and the eucharistic Euchar-
scenes can be conveniently grouped together. Bread "^^^^
or a loaf is the common emblem. If a fish is laid on ^™ ° ^
or near it, it means specially the Eucharist, the icthis
in the bread ; if a fish is going towards it as though
about to swallow it, the Christian fed on the Eucharist
is intended. In the catacomb of S. Agnese there is a
fragment representing the pisciculus going towards a
piece of bread, with its mouth half open ; under the
bread is the Christian monogram yK' . The bread
is divided in four like a cross 0, but it must not
be supposed that this came necessarily to have a
Christian meaning. The ancients engraved bread in
this way so that it should be more easy to divide when
baked.
The bread is often in baskets ; the loaves taken up Basket,
to the Bishop during the liturgy were deposited in
such coffancc or baskets, and hence the allusion to the
Eucharist is distinct, though when there are seven
baskets the multiplication of the loaves is intended.
Another symbol is a fish with the basket of loaves
resting on its curved back. Bread and fish together
on a tripod, which distinctly represents the altar, Tripod,
another. On a bronze lamp found in the Ostrian
cemetery is figured a ship and a dolphin in whose
mouth is the eucharistic bread. The friend and
saviour of man feeds the Church in its journey, with
the mystic bread.
When the bread is not cruciform, it is shaped Corona.
\0\ This is called the covona and is a very early
form of the eucharistic bread, the Eucharist itself
being frequently called covona by TertuUian and
others.
It must be borne in mind that Eucharistic sym-
bolism in the cemeteries was employed with a refer-
ence to the life and death of those deposited there : it
26
402 CHRISTIAN AND BCCLESIASIICAL ROME
expressed, for example, the faith in the resurrection —
" He that eateth this bread shall live for ever." It
also signified the food of man on earth, his viaticum or
food on the journey, as the trees and birds and flowers
represented the refreshment of eternity. So the scenes
depicted in the catacombs may also be divided into
two groups {a) the imagery representing the refresh-
ment of the Church on earth, to which belong the
Eucharis- eucharistic scenes and {h) the imagery representing
tic scenes, the refreshment of the saints in heaven, expressed by
birds drinking from or perched on vases, or pecking
at fruit, and by peacocks in a garden of fruit and
flowers.
The most usual of the eucharistic scenes represents
7 persons at a semicircular table with bread and
fish before them, and a cup or drinking vessel. Near
are 7 baskets of bread.
This scene does not represent the Last Supper. It
represents the Banquet of the Church on earth, the
mystery of the bread being expressed by the fish and
by the miracle of the loaves, "seven basketsful." Fish
occur in scenes of pagan banquets, representing delicate
meats ; and passed into Christian symbolism because
in all these representations of banquets Christ as the
food of man was referred to. So we find Him identified
with the food — He Himself is the Icthus ; as He had
identified Himself with the other symbol of bread *' I
am the bread which came down from heaven." When
bread and fish are together, or the fish laid on the
bread and vice versa, the symbolism may always be
regarded as Christian.
The scene of the 7 persons at a feast is also said to
represent the event recorded in S. John xxi., our
Lord feeding the 7 disciples who had landed on the
shore of Lake Tiberias. It may then mean the arrival
of the soul at the eternal shores, for whom Christ has
prepared a banquet. The broiled fish is an ancient
Piscis emblem of Christ's passion : Piscis assus Christus est
assus. passus. Hence an occult and eucharistic meaning in
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 403
the scene of the 7 persons for whom our Lord has
prepared a broiled fish on the shore of Tiberias.
Though such a scene is much more in the manner of
early symbolism than would be, for example, a repre-
sentation of the Last Supper, it is yet far from certain
that these 7 persons usually represent it. It had
been supposed that the 7 persons were always men,
until the discovery of the same scene in the cemetery
of S. Priscilla in 1894. We should also have expected
a tripod or fire in place of the table ; and the 7 baskets
do not appear appropriate to this subject.
Where a man or woman stands by a tripod, on which Tripod
is laid fish and bread, in the attitude of prayer, or scene,
pointing to the gifts, we have the Eucharistic banquet
represented rather as a sacrifice than as a feast. "■=
It has been truly said " there was hardly an object
in the kingdom of nature which did not form part of
the symbolism of the early Christians, who looked
upon the whole outward world as a mirror wherein
were reflected the higher truths of the invisible king-
dom, and as symbolic of salvation through Christ.
Various kinds of animals were considered by them as
types of different quahties or virtues, or even as
emblems of the Saviour, and of Christians in general ;
and the middle ages carried on what they found begun
in the rude art of the catacombs, and in the writings
of the early Fathers, to which the meaning of almost
all those animal symbols can be traced.! To gain
the exact meaning of this complicated system, De Rossi De Rossi,
studied the Fathers who were as it were citizens of sub-
terranean Rome (" quasi cittadini della Roma sot-
* The image of heaven as rest, and refreshment (Refrigcrium)
is as ancient as the Apocalypse. " Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours " ; and the image of the living bread
raising the dead in the last day [Ego sum panis vivus. . . . Ego
resuscitabo eum in novissimo die] is found in the Gospel of John.
These 2 subjects are employed in the Epistle and Gospel of the
mass for the dead.
t Symbols 0/ the Early Christian Art, by L. Twining.
26 — 2
404 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Adapta-
tion of
pre-exist-
ing types.
Use of
pagan
models.
terranea ") or had preserved its memory and memorials
in their first freshness. The first Christians not only
used images and symbols of truths, but they sought
for such images as would not occasion remark, and
they therefore adapted the figurative system already in
use. No emblem or scene depicted in the catacombs
would have betrayed the Christians to the world
around them. But this use of a known symbol to
express something new, introduces a second occult
element into the symbolism of the catacombs. What
is there expressed is doubly veiled.
Such symbolic references suited not only the genius
of primitive times, but also, as we have seen, the
necessities of the disciplina arcani. Nor did the Chris-
tians altogether shun the use of pagan objects ; and
De Rossi points out that they were free of the Jewish
scruples about every little mythological figure, quoting
an Arab text of the apostolical Constitutions, attri-
buted to Hippolytus, which says that every maker of
idols after baptism except they be stick as pertain to man's
use (ad usum hominum pertinent) should be excom-
municated until he had done penance. Even Ter-
tullian distinguishes between idols prohibited idolatria
causa, and those quce non ad idolatries titulum pertinehant,
or which were used as simplex ornamentum.
All Christians well understood this distinction ; the
story of a martyrdom in Pannonia introduces us to
some Christian artificers who offered to sculpt Victories
and Cupids, but when they were ordered to make an
^sculapius they refused, and this cost them their life.
A little Mercury has been found in the catacomb of
S. Domitilla.
The Christians however preferred their own symbols
where possible; and Clement of Alexandria says " Let
your symbols be the dove, or fish, or the boat."
OBJECTS FOUND IN THE CATACOMBS.
The little objects found in the catacombs are
numerous, but of course form only a small part of what
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS
405
might have been found there had it not been for the
sackings.
Among glass utensils and ornaments we find balsam Glass and
vases, which are often walled in by the loculi, and the earthen-
ampiilla which, similarly walled in, we know were held ^^^'^®'
in the iv. century to be the sign of a martyr's tomb
and to contain the martyr's blood. The contents of
some of these have been liquefied.
Glass and other small objects generally date from
the middle of the in. to the middle of the iv. century.
Earthenware vases and pots, some of which are balsam
pots, are also common. Glass cups and chalices are
often found with busts of Peter and Paul depicted on
them. Gilded glass with the Madonna, and her name
inscribed, is found also. In an example from the
FIGURES OF PETER AND PAUL, FROM A GLASS VESSEL
FROM THE CATACOMBS.
catacomb of Callistus the 2 apostles are draped in the
pallium, which covers the hands." It is of the iv. cen-
tury. In this century medallions become common. Medal-
lions.
* The figures of Peter and Paul which occur so very often are
not alvvaj-s historical figures, but rather symbolical, meaning in a
general sense the founders of the Church. Compare the symbolic
use of figures of Mary, supra, p. 392 note.
4o6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The bust of the deceased or of some friend, or the
apostles, or a martyr, or the figure of Christ, are por-
trayed on gold leaf, soldered by fire between 2 layers
of glass. These are found also on the foot or at the
bottom of glass cups and chaHces. Nuptial, mytho-
logical, and convivial scenes are also represented.
Jerome calls them sancomarias, and says it was cus-
tomary for the 2 apostles to be portrayed on them
{solent apostolonim imagines adwnhravi).
Portraits. In the catacomb of S. Agnese there is the impres-
sion of a large disc in the tufa next to the epitaph, "
bits of the enamel and glass of its mosaic border still
remaining. No doubt the portrait of the deceased was
in the centre. These portraits are not rare ; they are
found on the slab which closes the loculus, and less
often engraved on the cement round it. The example
above, however, with its mosaic border is exceed-
ingly rare. Another was found in the cemetery of
S. Ciriaca.
Lamps. The lucerna or lamps of earthenware or bronze are
all rude as art and are found of all sizes. Some have
the impression of the fish on them, others the gemmed
cross. In other parts of Europe the fish alone, and
the fish with loaves, have been found adorning lamps
— a beautiful grouping of symbolism perhaps inten-
tional ?
Coins. Coins of the 11. and in. centuries are more frequently
found in the cemeteries than coins of the iv.
Seals. Seals are often found, and must not be confounded
with mason's marks. They are placed on the loculi
and are sometimes the seal of the dead person but
oftener that of the person who closed the loculus.
The word spes, Hope, on these seals is often used,
and means sometimes the name of the possessor and
sometimes the virtue. Both spes and spes in deo
are frequent inscriptions on the seals of the first
Christians. One can be seen in the Lateran Museum
engraved on an amphora ; it is from the catacomb of
♦ Severina to her husband Irenaeus.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 40;
Ciriaca. It is supposed that the Christians made a
reference to Matt, xxvii. 66. in the use of these seals.
This foot-shaped seal from thecatacombs is anantique=^=;
This is a modern copy of Castellani's* :
On many of the stones there is a mason's mark Mason's
showing that they came from a particular workshop, marks.
De Rossi has shown that certain cemeteries were
served by special workshops or officine. No Christian
symbol occurs on these till the iv. century, when the
workshop known as the Claudiana adopted the Chris-
tian monogram : its mark is a disc round which
Claudiana is written, with the ^K in the centre.
Other objects met with are the encolpii, rings, and other
small articles buried with the dead. Many are chil- objects,
dren's toys and were found walled in by the loculi of
children. Toy circles and rings, shells, little plates
and covers, buttons, hooks, ivory and iron pins, bone
thimbles, money, pieces of enamel ivory and stucco,
are some of the heterogeneous assemblage of little
movable objects. Besides these, the long handled
spoons called cochlearia are found. f All these things
and the ornaments found in the loculi are exceedingly
* We are indebted to Mrs. Dent of Sudeley Castle for the
rubbings of these seals.
t And no other eating utensils ; forks, as is well known, were
not introduced in France till the end of xiv. century, and later in
other places.
4o8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
rare in the most ancient period, and very numerous in
the III. and iv. centuries.
Sculp- For the first 3 centuries the Christians could not
ture. -^vith safety use the chisel as the sound might attract
non-Christians to the spot ; and therefore we find
Sarco- painted decorations. For sarcophagi they went to the
phagi. pagan shops where they chose those adorned with
indifferent subjects — the Kosmic cycle and forces of
nature, or games and hunting scenes, which served
them as allegories. We find the same scenes adopted
by the Fathers as figures of the Christian virtues.
The half figure of a woman, hardly detached from
the stone, sustained by 2 genii, was found in the
Ostrian cemetery. The Pastor bonus with the lamb
on his shoulders is as rare in marble as it is frequent
in painting.
Mosaic. There is comparatively little mosaic in the cata-
combs ; and much of what once existed has been
destroyed, leaving only the impression in the plaister.
S. Priscilla is the richest catacomb in this respect.
The mosaic that remains, and even the impressions
are of the deepest interest : but at other times it is a
profound disappointment to see bare white plaistered
walls, where mosaic had once been, no trace of which
remains.
Round the plaister work of loculi a rude kind of
mosaic has been found made of bits of enamel and
glass, so as to form rude monograms, or the cross, or
geometrical figures. In the iv. century the vaulted
roofs of arcosolia were ornamented in this way.
Stucco. There are several cubicula tastefully ornamented
with stucco bas-reliefs, in the style of the Painted
Tombs on the Latin way.
CALLIGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY.
The calligraphy of the catacombs, like the painting,
is of all kinds from the rudest to the finest ; and every
catacomb contains specimens of both. For beautiful
lettering we must go to the Ostrian catacomb or to
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 409
the cemetery of Domitilla which as that of the Gens
Flavia presents the finest examples. Some of the
inscriptions are incredibly rough, and appear to have
been cut with the mattock of an inexpert fossor, or even
by the friends of the deceased.
Nearly all the inscriptions are cut in stone or marble, The
white on white ; but sometimes some very rude and lettering,
early inscriptions are painted in red on brick. In the
catacomb of Priscilla some exquisite lettering is cut in
marble, and then stained red.
The earliest inscriptions are in Greek, and even Greek,
when the words are Latin, the Greek alphabet is still
employed. This predominance of Greek lasted till
about the middle of the in. century.
Even when the Latin is uniformly adopted, the
Greek H is often put in place of the Latin E, pomphe. Pecu-
E is often put when a or i is required ; Z is changed Parities,
to J and d to ^ or i. So x is placed instead of s, as
xanta for sancta. K for c, Kara, Cara. b is con-
stantly employed for v — vibas for vivas. In the symbol
A w (Alpha and Omega) K is sometimes substituted A 0.
for the A, but whether from negligence or with some
special significance we do not know. Thus it appears
;5j 0). to A is often found instead of A w. The most
ancient form of the letter A is ^J^^ rufin^J^, and this form
of the letter marks the high antiquity of the inscription.
The earliest inscriptions are the simplest ; they con- Form
sist of the name, or name and surname, only. After of ^^^
this we have the name followed by some simple ejacu- earhestm-
lation : In pace. A little later we have simple affec-
tionate inscriptions, adding the number of years
months and days of the deceased person's life ; and
even up to the iv. century the titles are simple, though
very different from the laconicism of the first and
second.
The most frequent formulae in pace and benemerenti do Epi-
not occur in the earliest inscriptions, nor is the age graphic
given. Indeed the formulary for epitaphs was not i^r^"
adopted till the in. and iv. centuries.
410 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Later in- After the absolute laconicism of the first period, and
scriptions. the sober and sweet inscriptions of the next, we come
to the long and prolix ones, which give many details
and titles. These infallibly denote the later period.
Phraseo- After the words Pax, pax tibi, in pace, in pace Christi,
logy- and the expression Refrigeret Dens with kindred expres-
^^- sions referring to refreshment, one of the most frequent
frigerium. acclamations is Vivas in Deo.-' This very ancient
Vivas. acclamation occurs in several forms :
In bono.
Dulcissi-
mus.
Carissi-
mus.
Beneme-
rentum.
Diis
manibus.
Vale.
VIVAS IN DEO
,, IN CHRISTO
IN BONO
,, IN PACE
IN SPIRITU SANCTO.
The exclamation in bono (in good) is likewise very
ancient. Spiritus tuus in bono is equivalent to Thy
spirit in God, or in refreshment, in good things. "In
bono in Christo " in the good things of Christ.
Dulcissimus\ and TAYKYTATOS is the earliest ex-
pression of affection ; it is also that peculiar to the
large cemetery on the Via Nomentana. Carissitmcsl
is peculiar to the cemetery of S. Priscilla. Bejie-
meventuml takes the place of dulcissimus later.
The formula D. M. diis manibus\\ with which the
Gentile epitaphs began is rare in Christian epigraphy.
When it occurs the monogram of Christ is sometimes
placed between the two letters. De Rossi conjectures
that the meaning intended may then be Domino Christo,
or Deo Magno Christo. (Cf. Ep. ad Tit. ii. 13.) But
the 2 words are sometimes written out as a heading ;
these inscriptions date from after the Peace of the
Church. While the Christians were in conflict they
erased the words diis manibus if they had to have
recourse to stones so marked.
The word vale so common in Gentile epitaphs, was
seldom used by the Christians. They substituted for
* " Mayest thou live in God." f Most sweet.
+ Most dear. g Well-deserving.
II To the Gods of the under-world (Manes).
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 411
it the words in pace, or the still earlier forms pax, pax
tecum. When vale is used we have vale . . . in pace,
or vale in Christo ; and thus they pointed the distinc-
tion between the one farewell and the other. It is
noticeable too that they chose a similar short word as
a formula for their own inscriptions, and instead of the
usual vale wrote vivas.
Dormit, he sleeps, as an expression for death is Dormit.
proper to Christianity. Dormitio, in somno pacis, dor-
mivit-'- are therefore very frequently found. These and
the expression Dormierit in Domino (may he sleep in
the Lord) are to be seen especially in loculi of the 11.
and III. centuries, and occur in S. Agnese.
The expressions for death recessit,] pracessit,\ red- Recessit.
diditji are very common in Christian epigraphy. But
rediit, to return, is very rare. An instance occurs in
the catacomb of S. Agnese.
The formula Hie reguiescit does not appear on the Hie
most ancient inscriptions ; but begins to appear in the requiescit.
IV. century, and in the course of that century becomes
usual.
IIP. (pr. ) and PRB stands for presbyter. PRB.
Though in pace is common, the expression vixit in " Vixit in
pace is rare in Rome, though frequent in Africa. Pax P"""
and ecclesia were often used in mutual correlation, and
Lived in Peace therefore signifies lived in the peace, or the
communion, of the Church. In Rome it generally occurs
on the sepulchral epitaphs of foreigners.
Spirita Sancta is used in the iii. century for Spiritus •• Spirita
Sancti: Spirita sancta in niente hahete . . . Spirita sancta Sancta."
petite.
Natalis, Natalitia, the birthday, came early to mean Natalitia.
the day of decease; to this day the day of death, which
is that kept as the feast of martyr or saint, is called
dies Natalis.
In the Ostrian cemetery on the grave of a little child
* A sleeping. In the sleep of peace. He slept,
t Retire or go back. I Go before, precede.
§ Restore, give up, give back.
412 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
of 7 who received baptism the day before his death, it
is recorded as the day before his birthday, Pridie NataU
suo. Gregory Nazianzen (328-389) tells us that the
anniversary of the death was kept as a birthday, the
vestibules of the place where the departed person lay
being then adorned with green flowers, and crowns,
and lights.
Hence the Christian expression for death natus in
pace. But before the Christian era Seneca had re-
minded us that this day which we call the last " aternis
natilis est,'' is that which gives birth to the eternal day.
" Re- The words, in Greek or Latin, call to mind, remember,
member." are found from the earliest period : they recall the
ordinary beginning of the liturgical commemorations
both in East and West : MvT^a-dfjn Kvpie, memento
Domine. On the walls of the Christian museum at the
Lateran among the inscriptions of Class IX. we have
examples of this. From a sarcophagus front we have :
MNHCen 0 GfoC EXrENIEC.
Remember O Lord Eugenia.
In mente habete is another form of the game and is
used on catacomb inscriptions (see S. Domitilla).
S. Cyprian has " Fratres nostros ac sorores in mente
habeatis in orationibus vestris."
Vigila ! Vigila is yet another form of the intercessory ejacu-
. lations of the catacombs. The allusion is to the cus-
tomary nocturnal vigils of the Christians, which were
known also to the Gentiles, as we judge from Pliny's
letter to Trajan. The ejaculation " zmtch " inscribed
on the tombs of the holy dead refers the idea of the
Christian vigil to "the sublime office of the holy
souls who pray in an eternal and blessed vigil for
those who recommend themselves to their prayers."'''
S. Jerome asks Vigilantius : " Si apostoli et martyres
adhuc in corpore constituti possunt orare pro coeteris,
quando pro se debent esse soliciti : quanto magis post
coronas, victorias, et triumphos?" If apostles and
* Armellini.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 413
martyrs while yet in the body could pray for others,
when they still had need to be solicitous for them-
selves, how much more after they have received their
crown, their victory, their triumph ?
Consular Dates. — The 2 consuls for the year were Consular
the highest officers under the Republic, and nominally dates,
under the Emperors : their names dated the year.*
They are placed on inscriptions, in the ablative, with
coss. (consuUbus) after them, as giving the date. About
B.C. 154 it was decreed that the consuls should enter
on their office on the first of January. The last Roman
consul was Theodorus Paulinus a.d. 536. There is no
consular date for the year 410, that of the sack of
Rome ; the series begins again the next year, 411.
Before the reign of Constantine many distinct
families of epitaphs, classifiable in chronological order,
have been recognised and arranged by De Rossi.
But on the laconic early epitaphs the date is not given.
As they become more diffuse, the consular date begins
to appear ; this is towards the end of the iii. century.
Its insertion however never becomes common till the
Peace.
Titles. — According to Roman nomenclature, free Titles,
men had 3 names, the gentilitium, the nomen or (Tria
praenomen, and the cognomen or nomen. Women nomina.)
had only the gentilitium and cognomen. The cognomen
was their name, the gentiUtium their surname. Freed
slaves used the two names of the house to which they
had belonged, the third being the name given them by
their master. Female slaves used as mmen their
servile appellation and as cognomen the gentilitium of
the house in which they were slaves.
In later epitaphs the gentilitium, or name of the gens,
is omitted. It is infrequent after the year 312.
The prefix clarissimus, clarissima, indicates senatorial (Clarissi-
rank. mus.)
* The Fasti Consulares, at the Capitol Museum, are the tables
of the consulates, kept as an official chronological Register in
Rome.
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
(Egre-
gius.)
(Perfec-
tissimus.)
(Sanc-
tissimus.)
(Beatus,
beatissi-
mus.)
(Dominus
Domina.)
(Coniux.)
Vir Egregius is the title of the ratmmles of the
Emperor, and indicates equestrian rank. It is written
V. E. Under Constantine the rationales were styled
Perfectissimus.
The vocable sanctus, sanctissimus, is found in in-
scriptions of the pagans, and was copied from them
by the Christians, who however did not use it by way
of simple praise of the deceased, but to designate
those who received a solemn and public cultus from
the Church (Bullettino arch, crist., 1878, p. 40 et seqq.,
De Rossi). It is true that in the primitive Church all
the faithful were called saints, but the absolute title
sanctus, sancta, sanctissimus, sanctissima was only
used for those dead to whom a solemn veneration was
paid by the rest of the faithful."
The word sanctus as the common prefix for an
apostle or saint does not occur before the v. century.
Catacomb inscriptions show us that beatissimus, a, is
never used except of {a) martyrs, (b) confessors of the
faith, (c) innocent children. And, in one case which
has been found, of a Virgin consecrated to God. The
prefix Beatus was adopted early for the good and holy
and for founders of Churches ; beatus Petrus, beata
Lucina.
Domnus, Domna is the most ancient appellation of
martyrs, Domna Emerita, Domnus SebastianusA Domnus
yielded to Domni Sancti, and this to Sanctus.
This word, meaning yoked, conjoined, was used in
the classical period more usually for the wife than for
the husband ; in the plural in poetry it meant the
married pair. In Christian epigraphy however it
* Damasus, iv. century, adopts frequently Sanctus for martyr
in his Carmina. From the ni. century it became usual, when
speaking of the site of interment of many martyrs, to say " inter
sanctos," " ad sanctos."
t In the V. century it is used as a common title, and we find
it even employed in epitaphs of husbands and wives ; Le Blant
cites an epitaph to Domine coniugi dukissime Barbare.
For the title Dominus, domina, vide Le Blant, Inscriptions
Chretiennes, tome i., p. 202.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 415 .
occurs as the title of husband and wife with equal
frequency.
The word alumnus occurs often ; it is the title given (Alum-
to children exposed by their parents, and to whom the nus.)
gentilitium was by law not applicable, while the Chris-
tians were unwilling to call them servus. They were
taken by the charitable who became their masters.
The frequency with which this title occurs is evidence
that this was one of the first acts of charity performed
by the Christians ; the Christian women especially
making it their business to receive and train up the
victims of this truly barbarous usage.
The Christians did not use the word slave, there (Servus.)
is not a single instance of its use in the catacombs, (Slave.)
while libertus, freedman, occurs very rarely. On the
collar of a slave who had attempted flight we read
the touching name Servus Dei. Reading these epitaphs
we should suppose slavery not to exist in imperial
Rome ; " the eloquent silence of the epitaphs shows
that it was really abolished in the ideal order of the
Christian fraternity." '=
However the word servus was used in another sense,
the same in which it is so constantly employed by the
apostles viz : as bondservants of God. The husband
and wife on a bisomus tomb at Porto are called con-
servi del : De Rossi notices a beautiful epitaph in which
the widowed husband calls his wife "conserva soror et
coniux " ; or we find conservus, conserva, in Christo.
Tertullian in a letter to his wife calls her " Dilectissima
in Domino conserva."
We learn from different cemeteries that people who Name
bore the name of a martyr liked to be buried in his oi the
martyrs.
* Lactantius writes: Aptid no$ inter servos et dominos interest
nihil, nee alia causa est cur nobis fratrum nomen impertiamnr quia
pares esse nos credimus. Among^st us there are no masters or slaves,
nor is there any other reasorf why we give the name of brethren
except that we really believe ourselves all equal. And in the
Acts of S. Sebastian Cromatius wished to celebrate his baptism by
liberating 400 of his slaves, saying, " Those who have begun to
have God for their Father, ought not to be the slaves of men."
4i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
or her cemetery, as a Eugenia in the cemetery of
Eugenia.
Sculpting It is certain that the ordinary sculptors of epitaphs
of the were the fossors themselves. But in the first period,
epitaphs. bgfQj-e the creation of the class of fossors, and the great
extension of the cemeteries, they would have been cut
in the lapidary workshops of Rome. For example,
those beautiful inscriptions of S. Domitilla and the
Ostrian catacomb. But the Christians must have
painted rough inscriptions themselves from the very
first, and especially perhaps in the case of martyrs, or
in times of hurried and hidden burial during persecu-
tions. After the classical period the sculpting becomes
much less beautiful."''
CATACOMB EPITAPHS : SOME EXAMPLES.
I. — Recessit Sabbatia in somno pads. P. ann. xxvii.
Sabbatia has passed away in the sleep of peace. Aged
xxvii.
2. — Prima, vivis in gloria Dei et in pace Dni nostri.
Prima, thou livest in the glory of God and in the
peace of our Lord.
3. — Sabbati dulcis anima
Pete et roga pro fratres et sodales tuos.
The sweet soul of Sabbatus. Ask and beseech for thy
brethren and thy companions.
4. — Domitianus anima simplex dormit in pace.
Domitian, single of soul, sleeps in peace.
5. — Atttonia anima dulcis in pace.
. . . Dens refrigeret . . .
Antonia sweet soul in peace . . . may God refresh . . .
6.— Julia innoc. et dulcis. Mater sua sperans.
To Julia innocent and dear. Her mother (placed it) in
hope.
7. — Attict spiritus tuus in bono ora pro parentibus tuts.
Atticus, thy spirit in gooobthings, pray for thy parents.
8.—Jovianus vivet in Deo et rogat.
Jovianus lives (will live) in God, and prays.
* See infra, p. 427.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS 417
9. — jElia Bictorina posuit Aurelia Proba.
iElia Victorina placed it to Aurelia Proba.
10.— Julia, Claudia, and ^lia have obtained their loculi here by the
side of their sweet friend Calpurnia who rests in Peace.
II. — CLAUDIO BENEMERENTI STUDIOSO QUI AMABIT ME. VIXIT .
AN .P.M. XXV. IN . P.
To well deserving and devoted Claudius, who loved me.
He lived about 25 years. In peace.
12. — Laurinia melle dulcior quiesc in pace.
Laurinia, more sweet than honey, reposes in peace.
13. — FAUSTINA . VIRGINI . FORTISSIMI . QUE BIXIT ANN. XXI.
The monogram in a wreath, between a bird and
anchor ; underneath, in pace (Boldetti).
i^.— Julia Agapeni. Coniugi Dulcissime. Qui vixit annis xlv. M. Hi.
D. Hi. vid. et mecum annis xxi. Laeta in pace.
To Julia Agape, most sweet wife, who lived 45 years,
3 months, and 3 days, and with me 21 years.
Joyful in peace.
The following is on an intact loculus : In the
15. — c. lULiA AGRiPPiNA catacomb
SIMPLICI DULCIS IN .«TERNOM. of
(Caia Julia Agrippina, simple and sweet, for eternity.) Domitilla.
One of the marble slabs is of verde antico.
16. — (To Gentianus fidelis, ' Gentian one of the faithful,' who lived
21 years.)
IN ORATIONI . . S TUIS ROGES PRO NOBIS QUIA SCIMUS
t
Ask for us in thy prayers, since we know thee to be in
Christ.
f
17. — vincentia in j^ petas pro phcebe et PRO viRGiNio EJUS. From the
. 'l^, . , r ^, , , catacomb
Vmcentia m Christ, mayest thou pray for Phoebe and Qf q^\.
for her husband. list us.
The word virginius, Virginia, for wife and husband, is often to
be found on Christian epitaphs, and means one who was
their wife or husband a virginitate.
18. — Secundus et Rufna filics dulcissimee hunc F/unus scritura intra From Via
nos vii manotnisimus tujam cariiatem filia dulcissima Salaria.
sin. na,j Hi. k . s.
This tells us that during the funeralia of their daughter, her
father and mother by a mutual script had manumitted
7 slaves, as a charity done by their dead daughter, and for
her sake.
27
4X8 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
A widowed husband's inscription to his wife begins :
19. — Hie semper mihi dolor erit inmvo / Et tman Benerabilem vulttim
liceat videre sopor e coniux Albana.
' This my grief will be always with me. May it be
given me to behold thy revered countenance in
sleep, my wife Albana.'
20. — PETE PRO PARENTES TUOS MATRONATA MATRONA QDIVIXIT
AN° I . D . LII.
Pray for thy parents, Matronata Matrona, who lived
I year 52 days.
Another inscription ends :
21. — Ispiritus tuus bene requiescat in Deo.
' May thy spirit rest well in God.'
From 22. — DMA SACRUM
the cata- leopardum in pacem
comb of CUM SPIRITA sancta accep
CastuluS. TUM EUM HABEANT IS INNOCENTEM
POSUER . PAR . Q . AN . N. VII. MEN . VII.
Diis manibns sacrum. Leopardus in peace with the
holy Spirits. May they receive this innocent one
into their company. His parents placed it. He
lived 7 years and 7 months.
23.— XAIPH TTXH ^I'TXH KAAH TTXH eTFATHP.
(In rough letters without punctuation.) Farewell,
Tuche, fair soul, Tuche, my daughter.*
One to a ' faithful bond-servant of God ' says :
From 24.— EKOIMHGH EN EIPHNH MNHCGH ATTOT 0 GEOC
S. Domi- EIC TOTC AIONAC.
tilla. He sleeps in peace. May God remember him for ever.
From 25.— OTMBIft) TATKITATH
the cata- OMONOIOC AOMNH
comb of (anchor) EN AFAIIH.
Eugenia. To his most sweet wife, Homonoios (He-who-is-of-like-
mind) to Domtta (his lady). In love.
Early in. century. The very rare form in Agape is here used
in the sense oivivis in pace, in bono, in Christo, in Deo.
Note the rare use of lUiJXV, Tyche, as a personal name.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS
419
LIST OF ROMAN CATACOMBS.
,^,„„ „..,„ NAME AFTER THE PEACE OF
PRIMITIVE NAME. ^^^ CHURCH.
Via Appia .... Lucinae Callistus.
Ad Catacumbas S. Sebastianus.
Balbinae Balbina or S. Mark
(Balbina sive S.
Marci).
Praetextati SS. Urban, Felicissi-
mus, Januarius, Aga-
pitus, etc.
Ccemeterium near the
church called La Nunzi-
atella.
NOMENTANA . . Hortus Justi (inacces-
sible) S. Nicomedes.
S. Agnetis S.Agnes.
Ostrianum Ccemeterium Majus.
Fontis S. Petri.
Ad Nymphas S. Petri.
S. Alexandri (outside
the zone) S. Alexander.
Salaria
Vetus .... Basillae 8. Hermetis (Basilla,
Protus, & Hyacin-
thus).
[Pamphylus.] *
Liberalis.t
Salaria
Nova .... Maximi S. Felicitas.
Thrasonis Thrasus ad S. Satur-
ninum.
Arenaria Jordanorura
& Hortus Hilariae
(inaccessible) S. Alexander, Vitalis,
& Martial & vii.
Virgines, SS. Chris-
anthus & Daria, &
S. Hilaria.
Priscillae Priscilla.
[Novella.]
• Catacombs placed in brackets in the centre are those con-
structed after the Peace. Names in smaller type are small and
unimportant catacombs.
+ In the region Clivus Cucumeris, called a.\so Ad Septem Columbas,
or Ad caput S. Joannis.
27 — 2
420 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
, , ., .„„ NAMB AFTER THE PEACE OF
PRIMITIVE NAME. ^^^ ^.„„j^^„^
OsTiA Lucinae (Tropaeum
Pauli Apostoli) (in-
accessible) Sepulchre of Paul the
Apostle in the field
of Lucina (Sepul-
crum Pauli Apostoli
in prsedio Lucinae).
Commodillae (inac-
cessible) SS. Felix & Adauctus.
S. Timothei in hortoTheonis.
S. Thecte.
S. Zenonisi.
AuRELiA Octavillae Octavilla & Pancra-
tius.
Lucinae (inaccessible) Processus & Martini-
anus (also known
as S. Agathae ad
Girulum).
Calepodii (inaccessi-
ble) S. Callistus or S.
Julius Via Aurelia.
(CaUisti vel S. luli.)
[S. Felix]
(Felicis duo
Via Aurelia)
Two anonymous cemeteries.
Latina (Gordiani & Epimachi)
inaccessible Gordianus & Epima-
chus; or SS. Sim-
plicius & Servili-
anus, Quartus &
Quintus & Sophia ;
or Gordianus.
Tertullini S. Tertullinus.
Aproniani (inaccessi-
ble) S. Eugenia.
Sepolcreto of Asciatics.
Ardeatina . . Domitillae S. Petronilla, & SS.
Nereus & Achilleus.
Basilei Marcus and Marcellianus.
[Balbina]
(SS. Mark &
Balbina)
Cornelia, or
Triomphalis.. Tropaeum b. Petri
Apostoli, or Hortus
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATACOMBS
421
I'KIMITIVE NAME.
Triumphalis.
Li via
NAME AFTER THE PEACE OF
THE CHURCH.
(Memoria Petri Apos-
toli et sepulturae
episcoporum in Vati-
cano.) Memorial of
Peter the Apostle,
and sepulchres of
the Bishops in the
Vatican.
POKTUENSIS .
Pontiani ad Ursum
Pileatum
SS.AbdonandSennen.
[Generosa]
(Generosa, & Simplicianus
& Beatrix etc.)
outside the zone.
[Julius]
(Julii. Mill, iii.)
(S. Felicis Via
Portuensis)
TlBURTINA . . .
. Cyriacae (part accessi-
ble)
Ciriaca (S. Lauren-
tius).
(Hippolyti) part acces-
S. Hippolytus.
Two small Hypog<ea.
Labica.na ...
. Ad duas Lauros ....
SS. Petrus & Marcel-
linus & Helena, or
Gorgonius, or Ti-
burtius.
(Castuli) inaccessible
S. Castulus.
Flaminia . . .
i Sabinillae
S. Valentinus.
Cassia
. Anonymous cemetery near
S. Onofrio in Campagna.
CHAPTER X.
Via Appia : catacombs of S. Callistus, Sebastian, Pratextatiis, Villa
of"Marmenia," La Nunziatella — Via Ardeatina : catacombs of
Balbina, Domitilla, Basileus — Via Nomentana : catacombs of
S. Nicomede, of S. Agnese, Ostrian— Via Salaria Vetds :
Hermetis, Liberale—SAi^ARW Nuova : Felicitas, Thrasus, Jor-
danorum, Priscilla, Novella — Via Ostia : Lucina, Commodilla,
Timotheus, Thecla, Zeno — Via Aurelia : Octavilla, Lucina,
Calepodius, Felix, 2 anonymous ccjneteries — Via Latina : Gor-
dianus & Epimachus, Aproniani, Tertullinus, Asiatic sepulchre —
Via Cornelia : Memoria, or Trophy of Peter — Via Por-
TUENSE : Pontianus, Julius — Via Tiburtina : Cyriaca, Hippo-
lytiis, 2 small hypogaa — Via Labicana : Peter 6- Marcellinus,
Castulos — Via Flaminia : Valentinus — Suburban Catacombs.
Cata- For many centuries the catacomb of S. Sebastian was
THE^ViA^ the only one accessible ; it was taken to be part of the
Appia. great catacomb of S. Callistus, all trace of which had
Catacomb disappeared, and was venerated as such until this cen-
of S. Cal- tury, when the real S. Callistus was discovered. The
listus. origin of this catacomb is lost in obscurity, but as in
the case of all the others, its nucleus was certainly a
family or private sepulchre, a cameterium gentilitium. It
now seems more than probable that such an Hypogeum
existed here even in apostolic times, dating from the
Neronian persecutions, and known now, as in the
founder's own time, as the Crypta Lucina.
Cryptae All the references to Lucina lead us to regard her as a
Lucina;. personage perfectly well known to the early Christians,
and this fact makes them bare of any details as to her
origin and personality. A Lucina buries Paul, and a
Lucina excavates and gives her name to some crypts
THE CATACOMBS 423
on the Via Appia. Successive Lucinas buried the
chief apostles and martyrs, and removed the apostles'
bodies, and were all owners of land and of a cemetery.
Each buries in pradio suo, but no hint is given us of
the family or the sepulchre of these persons who pos-
.sessed the first of all the catacombs. The na.m.e Lucina
hides all trace of them and theirs.
De Rossi has now been able to identify the first
Lucina with the Pomponia Grecina whose conversion to
Christianity is recorded with bitter words by Tacitus
in A.D. 58, she leading thenceforth a life lugubre et
mosstum [lugubrious and mournful]. =■' A fact of the
utmost importance to the student of the earliest Chris-
tian period in Rome. Of Pomponia Grecina although so
important a person we have no further mention under
this name from Christian sources, but we find in these
very Crypta Lucincs which are of the highest antiquity,
the tomb of a Pomponius Grecimis. This identification
of the Lucina of the crypts with the wife of Aulus
Plautius,t identifies her also with the discipula Pauli, the
Lucina who about this time buried the apostle in her
own land on the Ostian Way, and thus this hypogeum
of the catacomb of S. Callistus can be dated to the
I. century A.D.,a date borne out by the archaic form of
the sepulchres, the classical style of the paintings, and
the epitaphs which present the characters of the first
half of the 11. century and perhaps even the end of
the I St.
To the crypts of Lucina were subsequently added
3 other principal areas, (i) the ccemeterium Cecilii,
(2) the Ccemeteyium of S. Soteris and (3) the avenaria of
Hippolytus. To those again were added other cemeterial
regions the names of which are unknown to us. The
name Callistus at first given to the Cecilian hypogeum
and its immediate adjuncts, is now used for the whole
underground area formed of the aggregation of these
minor cemeteries.
* De Rossi, Roma Sott., i., pp. 321-323, 340, 348, 351.
t Conqueror and Governor of Britain, a.d. 43-47.
424 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Cccme- There already existed on the Appian Way other
terium tombs than the Christian. Cicero mentions those of
Cecilii. j.^g Metelli and of the Cecilii, while near the crypt of
Pomponia Grecina was a second group of sepulchres
belonging to the Christian members of the Cecilii,
many of whose epitaphs have been found by De Rossi.
He concludes that this was from the ii. century a
sepolcreto gentilitinm of the Cecilii, consecrated by the
A.D. 177. martyrdom and interment of a member of their own
family, S. Cecilia.
A new epoch in the history of the catacomb of
S. Callistus began with the first years of the in. cen-
tury, and the event which thus changed the course of
its history was in all probability the gift by the
members of the Cecilii of their family sepulchre to
Pope Zephyrinus, as from this time we find Callistus
adopted as the episcopal cemetery of Rome.
Hitherto the papal cemetery had been that of the
Vatican, where Peter's body lay, which was very
small, and limited on all sides by Pagan tombs, and
the area Neroniana which effectually prevented its ex-
pansion. From the iii. century the official cemetery
was transferred to the Via Appia, and Zephyrinus
placed there his Deacon Callistus as administrator.
The tombs of the early popes, Zephyrinus being him-
self the first to be buried here, are therefore to be
found near that of S. Cecilia, in the crypts, that is,
of the original donors, " near the mistress of the
house."
Callistus succeeded Zephyrinus as Pope, and en-
larged the hypogeum, and the vast network of galleries
which grew from this centre was henceforth called by
his name.
The popes from Zephyrinus to Miltiades were
interred in this region which was enlarged and added
to by Pope Fabian, and here also were laid the martyrs
of the persecutions of Alexander Severus, Decius, and
Valerian, as well as other bishops and personages.
After the death of Miltiades, when the persecutions of
THE CATACOMBS 425
the Christians had ceased, there was no further reason
for burial in the catacombs, and we find his successors
buried as one would expect, in the basilicas of Rome.
Four of the tombs of the Popes, namely those of
Antherus (235), Fabian (236) Eutychian (275) and
Lucius (252) had been already found and De Rossi
discovered those of Cornelius (251), Caius (283) and
Eusebius (310). The region where Eusebius lay, Eusebian
which is called by his name, is between the region region.
of Soteris and the original crypts of Cecilia and appears
to have been added about the year 250 through the
munificence of a noble matron called Anatolia, and the
martyrs Calocerus and Parthenius her father's freedmen
lay here.
The crypts of the Cecilii were united at a later date
with the crypta Lucina by an intricate system of gal-
leries, without decoration or cubicula, where Pope
Cornelius is buried. Beyond the Eusebian region is Region of
the vast necropolis founded in the 11 1. century by S. Soteris
S. Soteris ; and contiguous to this, as we learn from
the ancient records, is the annarium of Hippolytus, in- Aren-
corporated with the cemetery of Callistus as early as arium of
the IV. century. Mus"
De Rossi has recognised no less than fourteen ^ "^'
separate centres of excavation in this vast cemetery,
which is constructed in three different levels, at depths
varying from 7^ to 22 metres below the soil. The
most ancient as a rule are the upper levels, the ex-
cavations descending as more room was required.
Intermediate levels are found at depths of 11, 12, 13!^,
16 and i6|- metres.
The present approach to the catacomb is through a
small doorway on the right hand side of the Via Appia,
above which are the words '* Ccenieteriuni S. CallixH."
Within is a little vineyard, and passing the entrance to
the crypts of Lucina which come first, we reach a
building (i) on the left which is an ancient oratory,
probably built during the persecutions and certainly
reconstructed after the Peace, and which is called the
426 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
chapel of SS. Cecilia and Sixtus from its position
immediately over the crypts where they lay. The
cemetery was originally reached by two ample stair-
ways parallel to each other (2 and 3).* During the
years of persecution, both were blocked up and in part
destroyed, and a secret entrance made into an adjoin-
ing arenarium which had several exits, thus allowing
the Christians means of escape even when pursued
into their catacomb. During the persecutions of
Diocletian, they further protected their cemeteries
from desecration, by filling some of the principal gal-
leries with earth. When the persecutions had ceased
and easy access to the cemeteries was desired, the
staircase (2) was restored and reopened and is now
used. Descending by a later staircase (5) we enter
first a little vestibule lined with graves (6). This por-
tion of the catacomb was anciently known as ad sanctum
Vestibule. Sixtum and ad sane tarn Ceciliam. The walls of the ves-
tibule are covered with rude scratchings the graffiti of
the pilgrims. One of these enters the catacomb with
his mind full of '^Sofronia'' probably his dead wife, and
writes as he enters " Sofronia vibas . . . cum tuis " —
as he advances further, we find him writing " Sofronia
in Domino," " Sofronia dulcis semper vives Deo,"
"Sofronia vives." Passing among the scenes of
heroism and martyrdom and the emblems of hope and
eternal life, he writes with ever more confidence :
" Sweet Sofronia thou shalt live for ever in God "
*' Sofronia thou shalt live."
Papal From the vestibule we turn to the right along a
crypt. gallery (7) passing a cubiculum on our right (e) to be
described presently, and reaching on our left the Papal
crypt (8) so called from the tombs of the Popes buried
within it. The four as yet recognised are those of
Antherus, Fabianus, Lucius, and Eutychianus (235-275)
though it is supposed that Sixtus II. (258) and Urban I.
(223) were also laid here. The sepulchral inscriptions
* Staircase marked (4) in the map leads to a lower level of the
area.
THE CATACOMBS 427
to the Popes of the in. century in this catacomb are
all in Greek. Upon those of the Popes Fabian and
Lucius are the words bishop and martyr.
The papal crypt has been saved from ruin by De
Rossi, and portions of new walls have been built with
the utmost care to support the roof which partly fell
in when the rubbish was first cleared away from the
interior. Many fragments remain of its original de-
coration. It was probably faced with marble in the
V. century and the portions of marble slabs and marble
columns still seen, are of this period. At the further
extremity is a raised marble dais in which can be still
seen the 4 sockets for the pillars which originally sup-
ported the altar. Behind this are the remains of a yet
older table tomb, in front of which is a raised ledge to
hold the episcopal chair. On the wall above is the
inscription of Pope Damasus, one of the 4 as yet found
in this catacomb.
The inscriptions which this pope placed in each of
the Roman cemeteries when restoring them, are to be
regarded not only as literary productions, and as such
they have a high value, but as historical landmarks.
They are engraved in a calligraphy of his own, in-
vented for him by his friend and amanuensis, the cele-
brated Furius Dionysius Filocalus ; and are easily
distinguishable.
The four inscriptions in the cemetery of S. Callistus I. Dama-
thus sum up its history, the first, placed at the tombs ^^^^ ^?'
of the popes, is as it were, introductory. Damasus ^'^"^ *°°'
speaks of the popes as forming a sort of guard of
honour, he uses the military term niimerus, round the
altar of Christ. He refers to the Greek confessors
" hie confessores," who were martyred under Claud the
Goth and were buried in 256 near by in the Arenarium
of Hippolytus who was himself among their number.
Again he refers to Pope Miltiades (31 1-3 14) who lived
after the persecutions, in the words : ** Hie positus
longa vixit qui in pace sacerdos " the bishop who lived
in a long peace. Lastly he says that here too would
428 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
he wish to be laid, but he feared to disturb the ashes
of the saints.
" Hie fateor Damasus volui mea condere membra
Sed cineres timui sanctos vexare piorum."
II. In- We only possess a copy of the second or Sixtian
scription. inscription, but De Rossi has found a tiny piece of the
original among the debris in the papal crypt, upon it
the word '' gregis." From this discovery it is probable
that this second inscription was also placed here, very
likely over the first, as there is a place for another
such tablet.
This inscription is to the Pope and martyr Sixtus,
and records an event so v/ell known to all, that
Damasus mentions no name. Sixtus II.* was deacon
to Pope Stephen I. and succeeded him. He was mar-
tyred on his cathedra in the catacombs, under Valerian
in A.D. 258, the first year in which the cemeteries of
the Christians were confiscated. Hitherto when their
lands and buildings were taken, their cemeteries were
spared, not only as individual, but as corporate religious
property. S. Cyprian a contemporary of Sixtus, says
he was martyred m ccemeterio, in the cemetery as though
the catacomb of Callistus was already known as the
great Roman cemetery. An itinerary of the viii. cen-
tury mentions " ecclesia in qua Sixtus secundus occisus
est." There still remains a doubt, however, whether
this or the neighbouring catacomb of Pretextatus be
the real site, but it is certain that his chair stained
with his blood, was transferred here, and here his
martyrdom has been commemorated from the earliest
times.
III. In- The third inscription is to the martyr Tarsicius. It
scription. has not been found in the original marble, but its site
was probably the oratory of Cecilia and Sixtus as the
martyr's relics were there venerated, buried " in uno
tumulo" in one tomb, with Pope Zephyrinus. The
young boy martyr Tarsicius, an acolyte, was present
♦ 257-258 A.D.
THE CATACOMBS 429
at an illegal meeting of the Christians in the memorable
year 258, which saw the martyrdoms of Sixtus, and of
his deacon Laurence. Tarsicius offered himself for .
the dangerous duty of bearing the consecrated bread
to the confessors in prison. His way lay along the
Via Appia across the Forum to the prisons under the
Capitol. On the road he was stopped, and asked what
he carried, he refused to tell, or to expose his precious
burden to profane eyes. They then stoned him, and
clasping the treasure with which he had been entrusted
to his breast, he gave up his spirit. His tormentors
then ran up to see what he carried and found nothing.
His body was removed from the Appia, which was
probably the scene of his martyrdom, to the catacomb
of S. Callistus. The carmen in which Damasus
records this event consists of 10 lines, of which the
eighth is lost. It is one of the most beautiful and
inspired of his carmina. In it he likens Tarsicius
to the Levite Stephen, both having been stoned to
death.
Finally we have a fourth inscription to Eusebius IV. In-
(310), who lived on the eve of the final peace of the scription.
church. The successor of Valerian, Gallienus, cruel
as he was, was yet propitious to the Christians, who
reckoned among them it is said, his own wife. He
restored not only the cemeteries which were held by
private individuals, but those also held by the church
as a religious corporation. A few years later at the
beginning of the new century, all the churches and
cemeteries were again confiscated. S. Callistus was
restored by Maxentius, and the Christians re-entered
it, broken into and in part destroyed as it was, not to
be again expelled. The Eusebian inscription refers to
the troubles brought about by Heraclius regarding the
reconciliation of the lapsed. Vigilius (537-555) restored
the devastated catacomb, and made a copy of the
inscription which had been destroyed by the Goths in
535, upon the reverse of a marble containing an
honorary inscription dedicated by Asinius to Caracalla.
430 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The copy is in much ruder lettering than the Filo-
cahan, and is not without errors. On the sides are
•written in letters arranged perpendicularly:
Damasis Pappae Cultor Atque Amatot (sic)
FURIUS DiONYSIUS FiLOCALUS SCRIBSIT.
Papal Returning to the Papal crypt : it contains also the
crypt. following inscriptions in the form of prayers :
Marcianum Successum Severum Spirita
Sancta in mente havete et omnes fratres nostros.
Holy spirits have in your memory Marcian
Successus, and Severus, and all our brethren.
Petite Spirita sancta ut Verecundus
' CUM suis bene naviget.
Ask, holy spirits, that Verecundus and his may make
a good voyage {i.e., to the shores of eternity).
Otia petite et pro et pro parentes et pro fratribus
EJUS ET. . . .
Crypt of Leaving the papal crypt we pass through an opening
CeciUa. on the left to a large irregular chamber lighted by a
wide luminare — the crypt of Cecilia (9). Close to the
entrance the martyr herself is represented in fresco in
a garden of green and roses, her arms in the attitude
of prayer ; a large nimbus is round her head, and she
is dressed in rich vestments broidered in gold and
charged with gems ; this is probably of the vii. cen-
tury and has been painted over traces of an ancient
mosaic. Immediately below is a niche which was
originally lined with porphyry and used for the oils
and unguents that fed the lights. It is now decorated
with a Byzantine bust of Christ. On the flat surface
adjacent is a figure in episcopal dress inscribed 5. Ur-
harms, and an almost effaced inscription. Both these
paintings may be as late as the x. or xi. century.*
The picture of S. Cecilia is entirely covered with
graffiti. Among the names of pilgrims are Lupo,
* Any decorations in a catacomb later than the v. or vi.
centuries are a sure indication of the historical and religious
interest of the spot.
THE CATACOMBS 431
Ethelnd Epis., obviously a Saxon bishop, and Hilde-
brandus. Also a series of names nearly all of which
have PRB. after them, one of these being Joannes prh.
vester (John priest of yotir titulus, i.e. of the Church of
S. Cecilia.)
Paschal left it recorded that he had found Cecilia's
body " near the tombs of his predecessors." When
De Rossi was excavating in this part of the catacomb,
he came first upon the decorated luminare and found
that there was indeed a chamber next to the pontifical
crypt. Further search brought to light the wide recess
just beyond the paintings described above, where
Paschal must have found the saint's body lying exactly
in the attitude which the sculptor Maderno has pre-
served for us in the statue in the church of S. Cecilia
in Trastevere. Pope Damasus made the wide new
entrance to this crypt opposite to that from the Papal
crypt, and the new stairway which led more directly to
it. The wide luminare which lights the chamber was
probably constructed by Sixtus III. (432) and decorated
with frescoes which are of this (v.) century. They
represent above, the figure of a female Orante, and
below her, a Latin cross between two sheep. Below
this again, the figures of three saints, SS. Quirinus,
Policamus and Sebastianus.
Quirinus or Cyrinus" is represented tonsured, by
him are Sebastian, and the martyr Policamus with a
palm by his side. Of Policamus we know nothing
but we know that foreign bishops were interred in the
Pontifical crypt, and in the itinerary preserved by
William of Malmesbury we find that " near the church
of Cecilia " besides the Popes, were Policamus and
Optatus. The latter has been identified as the bishop
of Vesceter who corresponded with Augustine, and
lived about 420.
_ In this same crypt many sepulchral inscriptions were
discovered, all referring to persons of senatorial grade.
Among them a fine Greek epitaph upon a table tomb
• Vide Catacomb of S. Sebastian, p. 445.
432 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Cubicula
of the
Sacra-
ments.
Ill
IV,
near that of S. Cecilia, to Septimus Pratextatus Cecilianus,
in which he is called Servus Dei.
Returning through the Papal crypt we come to 5
small chambers opening out of a long gallery, which
are known as the cubicula of the Sacraments.
Four of these lie along a gallery (10) the other, to
be returned to later, leads out of a gallery (7) opposite
the papal crypt.
In the first (a) we find a fresco representing the
Redeemer, young and unbearded, dressed in the
pallium, raising Lazarus. At the arcosolium at the
end, are represented 7 men at a table of the shape
called by the old writers sigma from its likeness to the
letter c.''- On the table are fish and bread ; at either
side, 5 baskets of loaves.
In the second cubiculum (b) we have again the multi-
plication of the loaves, Moses striking the rock and
Jonah.
The third (c) is a very ornate crypt. Two figures
of fossors are represented with axe in hand, beginning
to excavate. Two oranti ; the Jonah cycle. In the
four angles of the roof, are four flying birds. In the
centre the Good Shepherd standing between two trees
with the sheep upon his shoulders. On the trees two
little angels or genii. The pavement is an imitation
of opus sectile or " Alexandrine " work.
In the fourth crypt (d) : On the left wall entering,
Moses striking the rock. Further on, a baptism in running
water and a man fishing in it. Beyond, the paralytic
taking up his bed. On the wall facing the entrance to
the left, is a tripod with fish and bread laid on it ; a
woman stands on one side, her arms extended, a man
vested with the pallium stands on the other, and lifts
his right hand. This is the typical representation of
the Eucharist. The praying church by the side of the
oblation. On the same wall, is the scene of the 7
persons at a table, the sacrifice of Abraham, and two
fossors. The frescoes on the right wall have almost
* See p. 402
THE CATACOMBS 433
perished. We can still discern our Lord with the
woman at the well. The roof is flat, and is decorated
in the centre with the Good Shepherd carrying the
sheep, two other sheep at His feet. In the angles two
genii and two female figures representing the seasons.
In the segments, birds and peacocks, referring to the
seasons, and Jonah.
The series in this cubiculum is clearly designed.
Moses striking the rock represents miraculous water,
the healing waters of salvation brought by Christ.
The sacrament of baptism immediately follows. Then
the paralytic representing the forgiveness of sins, the
sacrament of Penance. But with more probability the
reference here is to baptism, and this picture represents
the man healed at the pool of Bethsaida, which was an
ancient type of the waters of baptism.* It was not
consonant to early Christian ideas to suppose penance
between baptism and the Eucharist. Then the tripod
and mystical feast, the altar and the Eucharist. By
this again, the Jewish type of Christ's sacrifice appears,
the sacrifice of Isaac. Then on the other wall is
Christ conversing with the Samaritan, telling her that
He is the Christ, and that those who ask for the water
that He will give them, will never thirst.
Passing back along the gallery and past the entrance V.
to the Papal crypt, we come to the fifth cubiculum (e).
This is higher and larger than the others. Here again
are represented Moses striking the rock, a fisherman
taking a small fish out of the water a scene often found
joined to that of a baptism, the fisherman representing
the Apostles as " fishers of men," and the fish, the
pisciculiis, the soul regenerated in baptism. The resur-
rection of Lazarus ; a dolphin wound with a trident.
On the wall to the right, a personage with a volume in
his hand, dressed in the philosopher's pallium, perhaps
a prophet. In the lunette of the roof, a tripod with
bread and fish, and 7 baskets. In the centre, the
* Optatus, De Schism. Don., ii. 6; Tertullian, De Baptismo,
cap. V.
28
434
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Eusebian
region.
Crypt of
Eusebius.
Crypt of
Parthe-
nius and
Calocerus.
Region of
S. Soteris.
Good Shepherd, in the angles 4 columns. These
cubicula date from the end of the 11. and beginning of
the III. century.
Some 100 paces further on, we come to the so-
called Eusebian Region, an extension of the Cecilian
undertaken by Callistus and his successors, and the
only portion of the catacomb properly styled Cal-
listus.■■'-
Here is buried Pope Eusebius (310). He died in
Sicily, and his body was brought to Rome by Pope
Miltiades and this region was decorated for its recep-
tion. It was excavated by De Rossi in 1857. A
separate stairway (12) leads to it from the open air.
In the galleries at the foot of the stairs, walls have
been built at some period, to guide the pilgrims to the
crypt of Eusebius (11).
This chamber is square in shape with arcosoha at
each side and at the further end. At the back of the
latter is a second arcosolium, and in the lunette above
are traces indicating the position of some inscription
tablet, possibly that of the Bishop of Vesceter.
The chapel shows traces of having been lined with
marble, and the arcosolia were at some period decorated
with mosaics. The vault of the roof is divided into
compartments, decorated with paintings of birds and
flowers, now much obliterated. In this chamber, but
not in its original position, is the Damasian inscription
mentioned above (vide p. 429). Opposite, on the other
side of the gallery, is a second cubiculum, undecorated,
and possibly intended for the use of worshippers (13).
A little further along the same gallery, is another
double cubiculum, one on either side of the gallery,
and from^ra^^^at the entrance of one of these chambers,
it is probable that this may have been the burial place
of the martyrs Parthenius and Calocerus (14 and 15).
The same gallery leads us from the Eusebian region
into the vast cemetery of S. Soteris. Four different
* On a fragmentary epitaph found here we first find : " Com-
parabit sibi arcosolium ;« Callisti."
THE CATACOMBS 435
areas, excavated at four different periods, have been
distinguished by De Rossi in this region which was
founded at the end of the in. century by the virgin
martyr whose name it bears, and whose riches, says
Armellini "must have been as great as her piety,"
" grande come la pieta, dovettero essere le richeze dell'
illustre fondatrice." Her tomb has as yet not been
found, but in this area the names Aunlius Satyrus,
Mavcella, Marcellina, occur, all names belonging to her
family, and we know Soteris was buried "z» pradio
sm,'' and also that a basilica of S. Soteris Martyr, Basilica of
existed in this region " where she lies with many others.'' S. Soteris.
Traces indeed have been found of a building above
ground resembling the oratory of Sixtus and Cecilia,
between this and the Via Ardeatina, and behind it are
the remains of an ancient stairway leading to the cata-
comb beneath. Pilgrims of the vii. and viii. centuries
visited her shrine in this basilica. It was still there in
A.D. 752-57 when the latter was restored.--'
In the region of S. Soteris, the architectural features
of the excavations show great development. In the
first period of catacomb excavation such as the crypts
of Lucina and the first Callistan region, the chambers
are small and are not found on both sides of the
galleries, and the luminaria are rare. Later, in the
middle of the iii. century, crypts are found obviously
intended for the assembling of the Christians, and later
still, at the end of the iii. century and beginning of iv.,
we find quadrangular, double, triple, and quadruple
crypts. In the region of Soteris, parts of which are
still later, we find them polygonal, with vaulted roofs
and apses ; and yet finer proportions are found in the
Liberian region which is latest of all. In the region of
Soteris, the cubicula and arcosolia alternate regularly,
but we do not find chambers completely decorated as
* The crypt was presumably just below the church; there is
such a large crypt at the foot of the stairway, where her sarco-
phagus probably stood ; the gallery leading to it has been widened,
and the niche for perfumed oils may still be seen there.
28—2
Cubicu-
lum of
Severus.
Crypts of
Lucina.
436 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
in the more primitive regions. The arcosolia are
abundant but infrequently decorated ; mosaics used in
decoration in the earlier regions are here replaced with
painting. Luminaria are frequent and of a great
height and size.
An inscription found here by De Rossi, and assigned
by him to the in. century runs : pelagia MAXErwA,
In proceeding along the gallery from the Eusebian
region — we reach a double cubiculum (17 and 18) con-
structed by the Deacon Severus with the permission
of " PP sui Marcellinus " (296-308) for his own family
and containing arcosolia and a luminare. Closing the
opening of an arcosolium is a slab of perforated marble,
belonging originally to some Pagan tomb, and now
bearing a eulogistic inscription to a girl child called
Sever a.
Opposite this cubiculum duplex, on the left, is a square
chamber (i6) with two arcosolia. Over one of these
is a group of five figures in a garden of flowers and
birds. The two principal figures, Orantes, on either
side, are inscribed Dyonisias in Pace and Zoae in Pace,
the former wears a talith. A little below them, is
another important figure, though somewhat smaller,
Eliodora in Pace. Between these are two small figures
inscribed respectively Nemesi in Pace and Procopi in
Pace, the former wears a stole reaching to the knee.
On either side of the group, are two large peacocks
walking in the garden ; that beneath Dyonisas is in-
scribed Arcadia in Pace.* Below, birds slake their thirst
at flowing water, a picture of the celestial refrigerimn.
All are richly dressed in gold and purple, and the
women wear pearls, the costumes being of the time of
Diocletian. These were probably martyrs during this
persecution. Zoae is perhaps the wife of Nicostratus
of the Roman prefecture ; her body was thrown into
the Tiber, and the search for it aftersvards cost the
life of several of the Christians who undertook it.
The crypts of Lucina lie nearest the Via Appia, and
* See p. 395.
THE CATACOMBS 437
here we descend to the tomb of Pope Cornelius, at a
level slightly below that made by the elder Lucina ;
the former level dating from the time that the later
Lucina, whose burial of this pope is recorded, de-
posited his body here.
A separate stairway (a) leads to these crypts, and
they are connected below ground with the Cecilian
region by a complicated labyrinth of galleries (z) with-
out arcosolia, cubicula or paintings, but interesting
from the ingenious manner in which they have been
constructed by the fossors, being at several different
levels, connected by staircases as they join on to other
areas.
In 1849 De Rossi found a stone with the words
ELI us MARTYR upou it, and the upper portions of the
letters r, and n, in a vineyard on the Via Appia
between the catacomb of S. Sebastian, at that time
confused with S. Callistus, and the walls of Rome.
He was convinced that this was part of the tombstone
of Pope Cornelius, and persuaded Pius IX. to pur-
chase the land upon which he had found it. After 3
years' patient work, he found in 1852 the other half of
the marble in what we now know as the crypt of Cor-
nelius, and upon the two portions, the complete in-
scription CORNELIUS martyr. EP.
The story runs that Pius IX. demurred at the pur-
chase of the land, saying such ideas were " sogni degli
archeologi'' (antiquary's visions). When De Rossi
had triumphantly placed the two portions of the in-
scription together, he invited the Pope to visit the
scene of his labours, and when Pius IX. had reached
the crypt of Cornelius, De Rossi pointed to the tomb
with the words ^^ ecco i sogni degli archeologi !" (behold
the antiquaries' dreams!)
Cornelius was the only pope till Silvester who bore
the name of a well known Roman family, and we find
him buried, not in the Papal crypt with his prede-
cessors, but in a region with other members of his
family, for here we find tombs of Cornelii and of
Crypt of
Cornelius
Cornelius
and
Cyprian.
SS. Cere-
alis and
Sallustia.
Cubicu-
lura D.
438 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Maximi Cacilii. Another proof that he was probably
buried by his own " gens " in their own cemetery, is
that his epitaph is in Latin, not in the official language,
Greek, found in the epitaphs of the Papal crypt.
His tomb is not in any crypt or cubiculum but in a
sort of enlarged passage way (c), where a wide loculus
has been formed, in which probably stood a sarcophagus
containing his body. The top of the sarcophagus pro-
bably served as an altar until the body was removed
to Germany. Pieces of marble are still attached to the
adjacent walls, and fragments of a Damasian inscription
have been found. Damasus also constructed a more
commodious staircase to the crypt, the one now in use
(a), and opened a luminare.
On the right hand of the tomb of Cornelius, is a
large painting of two Bishops, in Byzantine style,
Cornelius and S. Cyprian. Cornelius was martyred
at Civita Vecchia in 255. S. Cyprian was martyred in
Africa on the same day, though in a different year, and
their feasts are always kept together, September 16.
In the fresco, which is probably of the ix. century,
both are habited as bishops, with the pallium. Traces
of older decorations and graffiti can be detected beneath
the painting. On the opposite side of the tomb, are
the figures of two other bishops with their names, S.
Sixtus and S. Optatus, just decipherable. This paint-
ing was probably placed here by Leo IIL (795-815)
when restoring the catacomb. A low pillar close by is
much earlier in date, perhaps of the same date as the
tomb, and held the perfumed oils. Fragments of a
vessel used for oil were found among the rubbish.
In an archway near is a graffHtto with the names of
S5. Cerealis and Sallustia " S. Cerealis et Sallustia cum
XXI.'' In the " acts " of Cornelius we learn that
Cerealis was the officer who guarded him, with his wife
Sallustia, and the twenty-one soldiers whom he con-
verted, and who were martyred together and buried by
Lucina probably near this spot.
At the foot of the original staircase (b), now no
THE CATACOMBS 439
longer used, is a double cubiculum (d, e), the painting of
which dates to the time of the Founder herself, or but
little later. The first cubiculum (d) is almost totally
destroyed ; two doves in a garden are still discernible.
Between this and the second cubiculum (e) is repre-
sented the baptism in Jordan, the first historical monu-
ment of this subject after the Gospel account, as well
as its first representation in art. As we enter the
second cubiculum e : to the left are represented a Cubicu-
column between trees, a sheep and a lamb. On the him e,
column is a pail of milk and near it, a pastoral staff.
On the right wall, are two birds in a garden of flowers,
perched upon the branch of a tree. On these two
walls the earthly and heavenly church are symbolised :
on the left wall is represented the mystical bowl, by
which the flock is nourished. Milk is one of the
m.ost ancient symbols of the Eucharist. S. Perpetua
in the first years of the in. century describes the Good
Shepherd who gives her to taste of the milk which he
carries in his pail, and which she received with hands
joined the one over the other, all those standing by
answering " atnen.'" This attitude and the response,
answers exactly to the usage of the early Christians in
receiving the Eucharist. This then, is the type of the
church on earth. On the right wall, the birds represent
the souls loosed from the body flying to Christ and de-
lighting themselves in the celestial garden. Both treat-
ments show the greatest archaism. In the centre of the
flat roof we find Daniel among the lions. On the wall
which fronts the entrance, two large living fish in
water, upon the back of each a basket of bread through
which is seen a glass cup half full of red wine. The
loaves in the baskets are of a grey colour. In the first
ages of the church, the corona consecrates, that is, the
Eucharist, were placed in these cojfancs or baskets ; but
those frescoes which are of the highest antiquity are
the most ancient and the most complete representation
of the usage.
The original spacious staircase (b) was no doubt
440 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
constructed before the devastations of Valerian, after
which it was carefully walled up, and a small entrance
made into this portion of the catacomb, until the stair-
case (a) was constructed by Pope Damasus.
This area owing to its great antiquity has under-
gone repeated alterations and modifications, and its
level varies more than in any other portion of the
catacomb. In some places the floors have been
lowered to allow of greater space, and in the crypt of
Cornelius, this has caused many loculi to remain high
out of reach. It has suffered too from the nature of
. the soil, which in some places is of a fine sand, which
has caused the ceilings and floors of some of the lower
galleries to fall in. The galleries in this region have
been excavated under a space of loo feet frontage on
the Via'Appia, by i8o feet " agro," or backwards, and
it has been calculated that this space contains some
800 sepulchres.
A staircase of some 23 steps leads to a lower level,
passing some 3 tiers of galleries. Here are some un-
disturbed loculi, probably of a later period than those
above. One inscription is to 'E2nEP02 with an anchor,
another to Faustnianus also with the anchor, a bird,
palm branch, and sheep. Another POY^INA EIPHNH
Rufina in pace, with a small Greek cross decorated at
the ends >J<. Another runs :
MARGIE RUFINE
DIGNE PATRONE
SECUNDUS LIBERTUS FECIT.
Secundus, who describes himself as a freeman,
makes the inscription to his Patron Marcia Rufina.
On the next slab, a gardener is represented with his
appropriate implements, and the words : Valerius
PARDUS FELicissiMA CO. F. His wife Felicissima made
it. The emblem is a palm branch.
Aren- Contiguous to this region is the so-called Arenarium
arium of of Hippolytus, who was one of a body of Greeks who
Mus°' ^^^^ surprised by a tempest on the way to Rome, and
THE CATACOMBS 441
arriving in safety were converted. He observed the
monastic life in a hidden cave, namely in the arenaria
of this cemetery, and he with his companions, men
and women, were martyred under Claud the Goth
(268). His connection with the Novatian schism is
mentioned in two martyrologies. The stairway lead-
ing to this region, and evidently the approach to some
spot of importance, has been discovered, and many
attempts to enter the arenarium have been made ; but
all have so far proved unsuccessful owing to the
crumbling nature of the soil, which falls in upon every
fresh excavation. A tombstone evidently extracted
from this region at some period when it was accessible,
has the inscription " ad Epolitu " i.e. near the tomb of
Hippolytus.
Beyond this region and between it and S. Soteris, is Liberian
the portion of the catacomb called by De Rossi the region.
Liberian region, from its having been in use and
probably added during the pontificate of Liberius
(352-366) who was himself buried in the cemetery of
Priscilla. A separate staircase (19) led to it, and the
inscriptions found in it date from a.d. 362 to 376.
It is conjectured that a diaconal crypt existed in Crypt
this region corresponding to the pontifical crypt in the of Re-
older region ; fragments of an inscription to the ^^^nptus-
Deacon Redemptus, possibly by Damasus, have been
found in the principal crypt, and another to a deacon
Tigris. Victorina is buried in the same area, dying at
55 years old " Timens deum, integra fide." Another
inscription is to a virgin Secunda who died in 362 and
Hved 20 years ^^ pur a fide " both of which inscriptions
are supposed to refer to the prevalence of Arianism.
In the crypt of Redemptus, are several mutilated
fragments of a laudation one of the only two ever found
in the Christian cemeteries.
One of the latest dates inscribed in catacombs, comes
from this region, namely that of a.d. 407.
The Liberian region was excavated after the Peace
of the church, when no necessity for concealment
442 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
hindered the work of the fossors. We find therefore
the galleries large and wide, and the chambers with
arches and apses, with large and frequent luminaria.
It contains naturally no martyrs' tombs, but possibly
from its accessibility, was much visited in the xv. cen-
tury, when probably many of its inscriptions were
removed, as very few remain ; and there are few
decorated arcosolia, the paintings having in most
cases, been destroyed by damp. There are many un-
finished graves and arcosolia in some of the galleries,
and in others the site only is marked out upon the
walls.
In a narrow gallery which joins the Liberian region
with that of S. Soteris, is depicted the Madonna and
child, with the magi offering their gifts. In another
triple crypt are represented two disciples offering the
fish and bread to the Saviour to be multiplied, on the
ground are baskets. Moses removing his shoes, Moses
striking the rock. In this region we have also depicted
a scene from real life, which is rare in the catacombs :
a vegetable seller in a yellow tunic striped with purple,
is represented among stalls of vegetables exposed for
sale. At the extreme end of the upper level which
extends over the region of Soteris, are some intact
loculi. One inscription is to a child of one year and
four months AIOXYCIC NE0ei2TIM0C, "recently
illuminated," i.e. baptized.
From the extremity of the catacomb of S. Callistus
on the north, stretches a vast network of galleries
which extends perhaps as far as the catacomb of
S. Balbina.
S. Soteris. S. Soteris : the illustrious founder of the Hypogeum
which bears her name is called in the old martyrologies
a virgin and martyr, and her feast day is placed on
February lo or ii. S. Ambrose writes of her, and
speaks of her beauty, her youth, her noble blood, and
her confession of the faith under tortures and insults,
and to martyrdom. The date assigned for her death
is 304 ; and as the hypogeum is then called " her own "
THE CATACOMBS 443
it may as such have escaped the confiscation of the
previous year. S. Ambrose was a member of this
Saint's family ; and when he is writing to his sister
Marcellina who wished to dedicate herself to God, he
warmly applauds her purpose, citing domesticam pice
parentis exempliim, the example given them by " their
home example" Soteris. Marcellina, Satirus, and
Ambrose, however, do not lie here, but near the
martyrs SS. Gervasius and Protasius at Milan. The
remains of Soteris rest at S. Martino ai Monti, whither
Sergius II. removed them.*
CATACOMB OF S. SEBASTIAN ON THE VIA APPIA.
This catacomb, called in all early writings ad Cata- Catacomb
cumhas, is the only Roman cemetery which has always of S.
remained open : others as we know remaining hidden Sebastian,
for nearly 8 centuries. The catacomb, which is of
small extent, has relived as it were the life of that of
S. Callistus, with which it has been most strangely
confused. In the xv. century the fame of the Callistan
cemetery was so completely transferred to this one,
even the position of the former being completely for-
gotten, that an inscription says : " Hie est cimiterium
beati Callixti Papaeet Martyris incliti," and one placed
here in 1409 calls on us to venerate in the Sebastian
catacomb, the tomb of Cecilia, while other inscriptions
speak of the tombs of nearly 100 popes, and thousands
of martyrs. Even Bosio accepted the error. Here
Philip Neri, S. Bridget, Gertrude, S. Pius V., and
Charles Borromeo came to pray, S. Charles spending
here whole nights of vigil.
The region which has remained open is small, and
not very ancient : the galleries date from the iv. cen-
tury, only a few being of the in. The excavated
portion of the catacomb probably bears only a small
proportion to the whole. Of what is visible, all has
been devastated, galleries, sepulchres, and loculi ; and
• See p. 447.
444 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
a few inscriptions, only, remain. Signor Armellini
conjectures that the antiquity of the cemetery is greater
than that generally accorded to it : bits of inscriptions
in the beautiful ii. century character have been found;
but until more is excavated, it is not possible to form
any certain judgment.
Platonia This hypogeum was rendered venerable and famous
and Nas- from the tradition that here the bodies of the apostles
coM|%/2o jj^jj ^QQ^ translated and had rested for several years.
Apostles. ^^^ crypt where they lay is approached by a door on
the left of the nave, a passage leading round by the
high altar, and then down some modern steps,* brings
us to an irregular shaped chamber. A stone bench
runs round it, and in the centre is a square aperture
with bronze gratings in the ground. From this we
look into a pit 8 feet square and 8 feet deep. This pit
is equally divided by a marble slab 3 feet high, and
is lined with marble to the same depth. The walls
have been painted at periods not later than the in.
century.
This is the spot pointed out by tradition, by the
Damasine carmen,\ by the reference in the Acts of
Sebastian which are of the v. century, and by the letter
of Gregory the Great to Constantia wife of the Em-
peror Maurice, as the nascondiglio or secret place where
the apostles' bodies were laid. The spot was visited
in the iv. and v. centuries. The division of the nas-
condiglio into a place for 2 bodies is original, and
III. century work. Damasus laid down a marble pave-
* On the way a piece of loculus stone let into the wall has the
mark of the lapidary, or workshop from which it came: the
Constantinian monogram with Claudiana inscribed round it.
The remains of a mediaeval oratory are discernible halfway down
the opposite staircase, half of which is ancient, the other half
modern.
t The Einsiedeln Codex gives a transcription of the carmen,
made by the anonymous compiler, who copied it when it stood
in situ in the crypt. A tiny bit, now let into the wall, has been
found ; it consists of part of an s. in the Damasine character.
For a discussion of the removals of the 2 apostles' remains, see
Chap. IV.
THE CATACOMBS 445
ment. Round the crypt 14 arcosoHa were originally
ornamented with coloured stucco work of the best
period.
It has been thought possible, from the topographical The
indications of the place, the proximity of the Jewish Jewish
burial-places in the villas Randanini and Cimarra, that °""^^
this crypt was a principal mausoleum belonging to the
Jews ; and stucco work of the same description as that
found here anciently adorned these Jewish cemeteries.
Thus the site would have belonged to compatriots of
those " Eastern Christians " whom Damasus and
Gregory designate as the capturers of the apostles'
bodies.
Not far distant from this spot lay Sebastian (see S. Sebas-
p. 136). If Damasus wrote a carmen on him, it has tian.
not yet been found. The crypt of Quirinus, the
martyr bishop of Siscia was approached by a separate
staircase, on the west side of the basilica, as we learn
from the itineraries. His body was brought to Rome
circa 420. The crypt has not been found.* Eutychius
the Pope (283) was also buried here, and the carmen
of Damasus has been recovered. Another pope who
lay here was Fabian (251) : hence the basilica is
dedicated to Fabian and Sebastian. This cemetery
constituted the great repository for the relics which
were spread all over the world in the middle ages.
This is little to be wondered at when it is remembered
that the middle age Itinerary Mirabilia Roma refers us
to no less a place than coemeterium Callixti ad cata-
cumbas ad ecclesiam SS. Fabiani et Sebastiani ! The
cemetery of Callistus ad Catacumbas at the Church of
SS. Fabian and Sebastian ! And in the archives of
Briefs are to be found documents giving licenses to
take away relics from such a store-house of martyrs'
memories.
The following is a in. century inscription from an Inscrip-
tions.
* The itineraries erroneously describe him as " Pope and
martyr." Refer to the memorial of him in the crypt of Cecilia,
P- 431-
446 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESI4STICAL ROME
above ground sepulchre said to come from here (De
Rossi Bull' 1 881, pp. 36, 37) :
MARCELLAE
SANCTTSSl
MAE KEMIN
AE ALVNNI
ANV5 FRATE
R
t
DULVENEMERTI VICTORI
t
FILIO PARENTES QUI AMRIA
TREIECIT VIT D LXXX NEOFITUS
QUIEVIT IN PACE X.
FLORA IN PACE REQVESQVET-
5TVBEWT1AE
MARCELLI • DIE\
CONS • SALLIES 1]
(i) To Marcella, most holy woman, Alumnianus her
brother (2 anchors). (2) His parents to dear well-
THE CATACOMBS 447
deserving Victor, who in his lifetime had crossed
many seas (maria), and had lived as a neophyte (i.e.,
newly baptized Christian) 80 days. (The original
is in the Lateran Museum.) (3) Flora rests in
peace (iv. century). (4) Thus restored by De Rossi :
Studentics depositee natale Marcelli die xvii. Kal. fehniarins
cons. Sallies in pace. This was found under the altar of
S. Sebastian. It is to Studentia deposited on the
Natalitia (feast day) of the martyr-Pope Marcellus.
The consular date is a.d. 348.
From a mausoleum built near the basilica, one of
those open air mausolea which existed there as early
as the IV. century, we have a tombstone of the gens
Urania. The Uranii were a noble family of the iii. and
IV. centuries of our era ; S. Ambrose's brother was
called Uranius Satirus, and we know that the mau-
soleum of their ancestors was on the Via Appia and
near the region ad catacumhas. Ambrose visited it when
in Rome. Thus as De Rossi says this ' Christian
mausoleum must have been one of the ancestral
sepulchres of Ambrose, Satirus, and Marcellina.'='=
VRANIORum
MAKARIc(
Of the few paintings left, a representation of an ox
and an ass at the nativity should be mentioned : it
bears witness to the great antiquity of the tradition.
A sarcophagus in the Lateran Museum with the con-
sular date 342, has a similar representation. In the
roof of a niche a large Infant is painted. In the
labyrinths of this narrow and devastated catacomb is
the crypt in which S. Philip came to pray, with a stone
recording the fact. Some few years ago excavations
were carried on in this catacomb, a small phial of
blood plaistered into the loculus and other objects
• Compare also ante, Catacomb of Callistus, account of S.
Soteris.
448 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
being found in our presence. We return into the
church by the entrance to the right of the nave.
CATACOMB OF BALBINA, VIA APPIA.
The 4 catacombs of the Via Appia all lie between
the ist and 3rd mile stone from the gate. Those of
Balbina (which comes first at the junction of the Via
Ardeatina), Callistus,"'' and Sebastian, all lying on the
right of the road. This is a very large catacomb,
covering an area between the 2 roads named. It is
excavated in several levels, the crypts being large and
numerous. It was discovered in 1867 by Commenda-
tore Michele De Rossi, but the part he explored had
been devastated by those who penetrated between
1 7 16 and 1824. The greater part is ruinous, but a
new entrance has been cut from the catacomb of
Callistus, so that it is accessible.
Basilica This is one of the few cemeteries constructed after
of Pope the Peace. Originally known as " of Balbina " it was
S. Mark, styled later " of Balbina or of Mark." At the bifur-
cation of the roads where is now the little chapel
of " Domine quo vadis,"f Pope Mark built a basilica
(336-40) the ruins of which are yet visible, and here
he rests.
S. Bal- The martyr to whom Mark dedicated the church,
bina. and who gives her name to the cemetery is unknown.
Her memory has been confused with the daughter
of the martyr Quirinus. (Cemetery of Praetex-
tatus.)
* Which perhaps joins Balbina on the north.
t This little chapel, passed by all on their way to the cata-
combs of Callistus or Sebastian, was erected at the spot where a
very old tradition says our Lord met Peter. Peter was leaving
Rome by the Appian Gate, when our Lord appeared to him--and to
his question "Domine quo vadis " Lord where goest thou ? replied
vado Romam iterum crucifigar, I go to Rome to be crucified again.
Peter understood this to mean that he should himself return,
which he did and met his martyrdom. Compare with this beauti-
ful experience or beautiful legend, S. John xiii. 36, 37.
THE CATACOMBS 449
CEMETERY OF PR^TEXTATUS, VIA APPIA.
This is the only Christian catacomb to the left of
the Appia. It lies opposite that of Callistus. Bosius
regarded it as part of the latter, and its history has
been much intertwined with that cemetery. It has
been inaccessible for over 20 years, being on private
property.* The origin of this catacomb must be
placed at a period not remote from the Apostolic age.
It is excavated in 2 floors, the upper in this case
being the least ancient. This upper floor was found
devastated ; its inscriptions are iv. century. The
galleries of the lower floorf are sustained as in other
cemeteries of the same epoch, by a series of arches.
Many loculi here are intact, and the inscriptions are
chiefly in Greek. Excavations were commenced in
1848. The lower level was excavated in 1852.
A cubiculum of classic character in the lower level, A cubi-
discovered in 1857, with a decorated roof, has the *^"^"'^' '
Good Shepherd in the central disc, and 4 scenes re- '^^^^"'■y-
lating to the life and passion of Christ in the angles.
These are not later than the end of the 11. century.
This is then the most ancient record of the Passion,
after the accounts in the Gospels. The subjects are :
Our Lord with the woman at the well. The woman
with the issue at His feet, and g disciples. Soldiers
striking the crowned head of Christ with sticks. The
plaister has fallen in parts.
The inscriptions from this catacomb are to be seen on Inscrip-
one of the divisions in the Christian Museum of the tions.
Lateran, and form a family in themselves. They consist
of the bare name, and the prevailing symbol is the
* This year (i8g6) a portion has been re-opened ; the objects
visible in this portion are marked (*) in our description. This
tract is now entered from the Vta Appia Pignatelli, turning off to
the left at the Villa Randanini, after passing the entrance to
S. Callistus. But there is another ample entrance, under private
property.
t The lower levels of catacombs were called in debased Latin
catabatkum.
29
450 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
anchor. A slab closing a bisomus tomb has a Greek
inscription in very beautiful letters, to husband and wife,
the wife has the rare name Petra.{-') Surgical instru-
ments are traced on one, betokening the profession of
the deceased. An epitaph of the first half of the iii.
century is :
An e^MjPIT^^' OTPANIA
epitaph. exrATHP- HP„AHt,'
(Eumento ourania thugater Herodes) : which De Rossi
has rendered : Bonani sortem habeat Urania filia
Herodis (May Urania daughter of Herod have a good
fate.) The mention of the father's name in this way
is very unusual, and suggests at once that he was
some well-known personality. In the district under
which this catacomb was excavated the remains of a
villa are still visible : it has been ascertained that this
was the villa of the celebrated Herod Atticus, a Greek,
one of the preceptors of Marcus Aurelius and of Lucius
Verus. De Rossi asks how can we fail to conjecture
that this Christian Urania was the daughter of Herod
Atticus and Anna Regilla his Roman wife ?'•'
Martyrs The martyrs buried here were Cecilia's companions
buried Valerian, Tibertins, and Maximns. The bishop Urban. i
Two other deacons of Sixtus H. Felicissimus and Aga-
pettis. The Tribune Quiriniis, father of the martyr
Balbina. Januarius the eldest of the 7 sons of S. Feli-
citas, and Zeno. The tombs of Cecilia's companions
were found in 1848. The tomb of Urban has not
been discovered, but the discovery will solve some
curious problems : its position however is known to be
in the unexplored tract near the site of the tomb of
Felicissimus and Agapetus. This latter has been dis-
covered ;{■•'■) the plaister of the apse of the crypt was
covered with graffiti, one running: succurite ut vincam
in die jtidicii " Do you help that I may conquer in the
day of judgment." The tomb was flanked by 2 por-
* Herod Atticus born a.d. 104, died a.d. 180.
t See Cecilia, chapter viii., p. 212.
here.
1
THE CATACOMBS 451
phyry and 2 oriental alabaster columns, the only
instance in the catacombs." The martyrs lay in 2
niches, high up, with a marble grating before them.
The crypts of Januarius(*) and Quirinus(''') have been
also found ; the slab inscription of Damasus(''') record-
ing the former martyr is almost intact. There are 2 en-
trances to the crypt of Januarius, and the crypt itself
may be older than the date assigned for his martyrdom
(162). The seasons are represented in it ; over one
arch a portion of a Good Shepherd is visible. In the
crypt of Quirinus, that martyr is represented with the
Tribune's toga. The gallery in which these crypts are
situated was opened in January 1862.
We know nothing of the martyr Zeno ; after the Zeno.
Peace he was enumerated among the most celebrated
martyrs of the cemetery. He is called " fratre Valen-
tini,"t and appears with S. Valentine in that catacomb ;
and in Paschal's chapel in S. Prassede. A Zeno is
said to have been befriended by Prassede and Puden-
tiana. He is not to be confused with the martyr of
the Via Ostia, or with the Bishop- Patron of Verona.
Buildings existed over the area of this catacomb as Buildings.
in the case of all the others : here lived the fossors,
the clerics, and the guardians of the site. The ruins
of 2 of these buildings are still visible, one circular,
one rectangular. A third, of which no trace remains,
* The discovery of this crypt is partly due to Armellini. He
found the fragment of a table-tomb covered with graffiti ; the
graffito of one priest being already well known as occurring in
nearly all the other sanctuaries. The priests' names led him to
conclude that mass had been celebrated on this stone ; 2 names
were written across the priests' graffiti, and these names were
Felicissimus and Agapetus. When he fitted the fragment into
the table-tomb in this crypt, the edges, plaister, and a band of
red colour on both pieces, matched perfectly. Notice the priest's
signature alluded to : Leo presb. ; the name occurs with that of his
mother in the cemetery of Callistus : Leo presb. et adeodata matey
ejus. This is no other than the Pope Leo IV. who had previously
been guardian of the catacombs. See also Armellini, Scoperta,
d'lin graffito storico net Cimiterio di Pretestato. Roma, 1874
t See S. Pudentiana, chap, viii., p. 331 note, and Catacomb of
Valentine, chap, x., and S. Prassede, viii. p. 322.
29 — 2.
452 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
was called in the middle ages : " the church where
Sixtus, with his deacons, was beheaded." Here
John III. took refuge about 572, being here during the
conflict of the Romans with the soldiery of Narses.
The catacomb of Praetextatus is believed to be the
scene of Sixtus' martyrdom. (See Callistan Cata-
comb.) Among the ruins above was found a large
bronze basin with handles, now in the Kircherian
Museum. It is engraved with the evangelical fishing
scenes, and was perhaps used for baptism. The under
floor, containing many precious records of the first 3
centuries, has been as yet only imperfectly explored.
Prastex- The Praetextatus who names this catacomb, is un-
tatu§. known to us ; but the first Christian Cecilii and this
Praetextatus were in all likelihood related. The friend
of Damasus, the great champion of paganism and
antagonist of the Christians, Vettius Agorius Pratextatus,
may have been a member of the same family.='=
For a Greek inscription to Armenia found in this
catacomb see the following account.
VILLA OF S. " MARMENIA," VIA APPIA.
On the right of the road after passing the basilica
of Sebastian, we come to some excavations recently
opened to the public, and which consist of the remains
of a Roman villa and an arenarium made by its owner
" Marmenia." A pagan cemetery existed here anterior
to the villa. The story is that Marmenia's husband
was a judge, and as such condemned Pope Urban to
death. Becoming a Christian on her husband's death
she removed Urban's body here from the catacomb of
Callistus, i and converted her villa into a burial place
for the Christians. De Rossi observes that Marmenia
is not a Roman name, and that it is probably an error
for A rmenia, an illustrious gens of this name existing
under the Empire. In the catacomb of Praetextatus,
* See the catacomb of Pn5«7/a.
t The story is given in the apocryphal acts of Urban's
martyrdom, x. century.
THE CATACOMBS 453
we find in fact that this family had a Christian member
here buried :
APMEXIA- *HAIKITAC-
AIAIA PHriNA.
Mlia Regina to Armenia Felicitas.
The loculus is intact.
CEMETERY OF S. NICOMEDES, VIA NOMENTANA. VlA
This cemetery was discovered in the villa of Mar- tana.
chese Patrizi in 1864, who allowed it to be excavated. Catacomb
But a new quarter of the city is in progress of building of S.
over the site, and the excavations had to be suspended ^i"**
on account of the dangers of access. The proof that
we have here a i. century cemetery has therefore been
impossible to procure. It is of small circuit, and has
all been despoiled.
De Rossi judged that the portion just opened is of
very great antiquity. The inscriptions are certainly
anterior to the iv. century, and are both in Greek and
Latin. A cubiculum with Greek inscriptions which Cubicu-
speak of a Roman Matron Catianilla, of her husband, lum
and one of her sons, shows us that it belonged to the 9?^^^^"
Catius family, a noble Roman gens which gave many
Christians to the church. Near this cubiculum, the
following was found :
, . . Ai ePrononoiw 67x0
... ft) MHTPI KATIANIAAHI
The second line reads matri Catianilla ; the first line
De Rossi reads: Kai kpyoTro{iro)i(a,t\\e stonecutter having
doubled iro in error. The meaning is kpyoiroiia, to one
operosa, lahoriosa. The term operarius, workman, had
been ennobled by Christianity, but among the Romans
was a title of contempt. In Christian inscriptions it
is used as one of praise and of virtue. This inscription
then refers to Catianilla, the mother, whose hands were full
of works.*
* In the Catacomb of Petrus and Marcellinus a similar word
stands in place of coniux : cum laborone sue. In the Jewish cemetery
on the Appia the same word is employed.
454 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
An open
air sepul-
chre.
A second
hypo-
geum.
S. Nico-
medes.
In a sepulchre standing by this basilica there is an
inscription of ten lines, which contains nothing Chris-
tian, but it says that the sepulchre is open to those
liherti " at religionem pertinentes meam," the freed
men belonging to the owner's religion. Placed like
this in the open day, though as we see containing
nothing distinctively Christian about it, the sepulchre
and inscription must certainly date either from a period
anterior to Nero, or from the peaceful years of his
reign, or from the interval between his death and the
reign of Domitian. That is they belong to the period
A.D. 50-80.
A second hypogeum with a separate staircase has
been found near this catacomb ; it is very small, and
may have belonged to the Christian Pretorian Guard,
the Pretorian camp being near. Inscriptions to Pre-
toriani of the end of the 11 1. century have been found
here ; but it may be much older, and contain the graves
of the first converts from that body.
Nicomedes was a priest martyred in the persecution
of Domitian (a.d. 90 circa). He was flagellated with
leaden rods till he died, and then thrown into the
Tiber, from which one of his assistant priests Justin
recovered his body, and buried it in his own garden
{horttis Jtisti) near the Nomentanawall. His feast day
is kept on September 15. His acts are incorporated in
those of Nereus and Achilleus, the soldiers of Domi-
tilla's Household, said to have been baptized by Peter,
and who have been shown from excavations in the
catacomb of Domitilla to be Pretorian Guards.
The Via
Nomen-
tana and
Porta
Domnse.
CATACOMB OF S. AGNES, VIA NOMENTANA.
The Roman Via Nomentana, to-day called Via
" 20 Settembre" as far as the Gate, but which before
September 20, 1870, was called Via di Porta Pia, was
anciently the site of several celebrated villas. In the
Villa of Faonte his freed man, Nero destroyed him-
self in order to escape falling into the hands of the
Senator's messengers ; and here Martial had his farm ;
THE CATACOMBS
455
and Seneca speaks of his villa on this road as
suhirhanum and Nomentanum meum. The ancient gate
was much nearer Rome than the present, and the
modern road diverges slightly from the ancient ; the
present gate is in the same position as the Porta
Nomentana of Honorius erected in a.d. 400. At the
time of S. Agnes's martyrdom (258) the gate was the
Porta Colhna,* opening on the Via Nomentana antica.
The former was afterwards known as the Porta Doinna,
gate of the Domna, or martyr, and the toll here used
to be levied by the nuns of S. Agnes's Monastery.
There is still a large Madonna and child painted over
this Gate of the Lady.
From the end of the i. century till the middle of Christian
the III., when Agnes and Emerentiana were martyred, memories
nothing occurred to affect the history of this part of ^q^^,
the Via Nomentana. With the accession of Galba tana.
(a.d. 68) till the death of Titus (a.d. 81) the church
enjoyed peace ; and the persecution of Domitian which
* The site of this Gate is where now stands the Ministry of
Finance. Collina means Gate of the Collis Quirinalis, that hill
being called Collis, all the others being termed Monies. The
Honorian Gate continued to be called Porta Domnae Agnetis from
the IX. to the xvi. century, when Pius IV. (Medici) named it
Porta Pia.
456 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
followed, left its trace higher up, near the Nomentana
Gate, where the Christians buried Nicomedes.''=
The cata- The soil in which the catacomb of S. Agnes is con-
comb, structed is volcanic tufa of the kind called granular,
which is so friable in some parts that even the fossors
had to support part of the excavation with walls ; and
other walls have been constructed later to prevent
whole regions falling in. Otherwise this is one of the
best preserved of all the cemeteries. It is excavated
1 1 metres below the level of the Via Nomentana ;
many bodies are still in situ, and the cemetery retains
its primitive character owing to a tenacious deposit
which spread itself across the tufa of the galleries.
It was thus preserved from devastators, especially
from the xi. to the xvi. centuries. It is excavated in
2 levels, of which the upper was almost completely
destroyed by the construction of the Basilica and its
annexed buildings.
The cemetery is entered by 2 staircases from the
Basilica, and a third from S. Costanza ; of these only
one is ancient, that behind the apse of the basilica, and
of this only the lower part remains. We enter to-day
from the aisle near the sacristy. S. Agnese is not one
of the 25 great cemeteries of Rome dependent on a
parish within the city ; and its narrow proportions,
and the absence' of large crypts in which meetings
could be held agree with its traditional character of a
domestic catacomb.
Four It consists of 4 hypogaea, constructed at different
hypo- epochs, and incorporated together at some period after
^^^- the Peace. The origin of the Jirst nucleus is " lost in
the darkness of the ages." It lies on the side where
now is the left transept of the basilica, and here
Agnes was interred. The galleries are short, the
system of excavation is rectangular, there are several
levels, short ascents and descents, and the entire level
* This persecution of Domitian, of which we have the Christian
tradition on the Via Ardeatina and here, is mentioned by Ignatius,
Justin, Clement, and Tertullian.
THE CATACOMBS 457
is distinct from the rest of the cemetery. It has an
epigraphy proper to it, and there is no trace of any
period as late as Constantine. All these signs mark it
off as a special hypogeum. In it is the cubiculum of
Fortunata and Domitian, and in the same area is a small
tract called by Sig. Armellini the hypogeum of Ahilia
Domna, from its principal inscription.
The second region was begun on the right of the Second
basilica ; it is second both in chronological order, and hypo-
in historical importance. The natural defects of the &^^"^-
soil and " human barbarism " have however com-
bined to efface the latter. All the loculi here have
been opened, and as the slabs helped to support the
walls, large hollow spaces have been created. It was
entered almost immediately from the first nucleus,
and its level is nearly the same. It was constructed
all round the martyr's resting place, and dates from
her interment. This catacomb is an eloquent monu- "Ad
ment to the well known desire of the Christians to be sancta
buried near the martyrs ; it owes its existence to this rn^^rtura.
desire, and from this second hypogeum probably comes
the inscription in which it is expressly stated that
Eufrosine and Decentia wished to be buried ad sancta
MARTURA. And here too was discovered the seal of SigilUm
Lucina, The third region though commenced at the Lucina.
decline of the in. century, had its greatest develop- Third
ment after the Peace ; the excavation proceeding all "^^gion.
through the iv. century, when it ceased. It was
opened in the last years of the Diocletian persecution,
and is the largest of the 4 regions ; the level being
much the same as that of the original nuclei. Between
the Basilica and the church of S. Costanza stretches Fourth
the fourth region. Originally this zone was the area,
sepulchre of the soldiers of the Pretorian cohort
abolished by Constantine, and the site of some Pagan
Columbaria. The families to whom these had belonged
had for the most part become Christian, and they
excavated in the remainder of the area a cemetery
which was incorporated later with S. Agnese.
458 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Inscrip-
tions.
In the oldest part of the catacomb many inscriptions
can be seen in situ, resembling in antiquity and classical
form those in the neighbouring Ostrian cemetery ;
some are intact as they were left by the ancients, and
all are of a type peculiar to this ancient region, and
found only within this small compass. Dulcissimus is
the word proper to this catacomb. The word depositio
belongs to the second region (end of in, century). In
the next century we have instead depositus, a. In the
first region we have
EUTICHIAE
AEBUTIAE
VIDUAE
The title vidua is here a title of honour, referring to
her rank in the Church. It is of the end of the ii. or
beginning of the iii. century. The origin of the name
Eutichia is uncertain ; the hypogeum of S. Soteris
which forms part of the catacomb of Callistus, was the
property of the Eutychiani. To the same region belong
the following :
(I)
EUTICHIAE FILIAE
(2)
FL ■ AGRIPPINAE • ULPIAE ■ AGRIPPINAE
FILIAE • DULCISSIMAE.
(3)
MARCELLA
(4) ^f/RELIA.
(5) ERACLIA.
o h-°
THE CATACOMBS 459
The names Ulpia and Flavia fix the date of this 2nd
inscription to the reigns of Vespasian or Trajan. The
gentilitium of the mother and daughter are different ;
among the ingenuce, children could assume the gen-
tilitium of either father or mother. (4) and (5) belong
to the age of the Antonines.
AUR- VALENTINUS- ET- FLAVIA- LONGA- lULIA-
FIL- DULC- P- POS.
The words parentes posuerunt (P • Pos.), rare in this
earliest class of inscription, occur in epitaphs of the
same class in the neighbouring cemetery.
lULIAE • INGENIOSAE
CONIUGI • RARISSIME-
AURELIUS • DATUS.
Aurelius Datus to Julia Ingeniosa his most rare wife.
A beautiful Greek inscription is :
ATPHAIA ePEHTH
ATPHAI&) HAIOAwPg)
CTMBIftJ rATKTTATG)
Aurelia Trepta to Aurelius Eliodorus most sweet
husband {companion).
Another :
MARTURIUS
This name is a record of the cult of the martyrs. In
the III. and iv. centuries it is not a rare cognomen, and
46o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
is found up to the time of Gregory the Great. A
III. century fragment has :
ANIM . DULC/5
IN PACE
Sweet soul. In Peace.
To the third region belong the following epitaphs :
(i) found amongst the masonry of a staircase :
.... vixit annos IIII. mensibus . . .
. . . feciT PATER Filio benemerenti . . .
. . . In CRISTO
{The capital letters are those that remain ; the italicised letters are the
suggested reading.)
One of the very rare examples of the name of Christ.
(2)
CONSTANTIA ET BASILI FRATRIS.
To Constantia and Basil, brethren.
(3)
AELIO ■ QUI VIXIT ■ ANNIS • XXXIII ■ MATER •
FECIT • FILIO • BENEMERENTI IN PACE.
Another
(4)
I-
PE
E or P, E, occur on inscriptions not earlier than the
IV. century, and until the end of the vth. Much con-
troversy has arisen as to their meaning : Palmaemerita,
Pramia emerita, Pyamii ergo, have been suggested. A
THE CATACOMBS
461
palm or other emblem of good augury accompanies the
letters, which are found on tombs whose allusion is to
something festive or victorious.
(5)
FL. URBICUS FECIT
SIBI ET VICTORIE
NICENI VIRGINAE
SUAE MNIB
VS S VIBO
Flavius Urbicus fecit sibi et Victoriae Niceni Virginse suae
et omnibus suis se vivo.
Flavins Urbicus made this for himself and Victoria Nicenis his wife,
and for all his, in his lifetime.
(6) This inscription is in its place, though the marble
is broken :
AUR. URSA. AUR. MESTRANETI
MATRI . IN . PACE.
Aurelia Ursa, Aurelia Mestraneti matri in pace.
(Aurelia Ursa to her mother.)
(7)
VRANIA ET
The letters here are larger than usual. The inscrip-
tion belonged clearly to two personages of special dis-
tinction Urania et . (8) filumino benemerenti qui
VIXIT ANNIS XXXVI MENSES VI DIES XVII IN PACE. UXOR
MARITO QUI FECIT CUM COMPAREM SUAM ANNIS XIII ET
DIES XIII. To the well-deserving Filuminus, who lived
36 years 6 months 17 days. In peace. His wife to her
husband, who lived with his companion 13 years and
13 days. (9) EUCARPIATI CONIUGI SU.E BENEMERENTI
SE BIBU FECIT QUIB. AN. P.L.M. XXVIII. ET CU. VIRG.
FET. AN. VIII. M. VI. D. XVII. To his wife Eucarpia he
made it in his own lifetime ; who lived about {plus minus)
462 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
28 years, and cum virginio fecit annis viii. etc. (lo) In-
scription to : FIDES IN PACE.
The name Fides (Faith) is rare, but the Greek form
Ilto-Tis is less so. We have a catacomb inscription
Piste Spei sorori dtdcissima fecit : Faith placed it to her
sweet sister Hope.'''
(II)
SEVERA MARITO CONIUGI BE
NEMERENTI IN PACE QUI VIXIT ANNIS LXV.
Severa to her well-deserving husband (maritus coniux).
In peace. Who lived 65 years.
To the fourth region belongs the following :
MARGARITE INNO
CENTI IN PACE QUAE
VIX. ANNIS QUIN . .
To Margaret innocent one in peace who lived fifteen years.
A IV. century inscription to Verecunda speaks of her
as perit (prit). This word for death occurs first in
this century. Perit nonas octobris ora metis prima, a
particularity of detail foreign to the ancient inscrip-
tions. Under the Basilica Marini saw the 3 following
inscriptions :
(1) CLODIA • ISPES • LIB • CLODI • CRESCENTIS •
(2) L. CLODIUS CRESCENS • CLODIAE • VICTORIAE •
- I
(3)
TPO*EINHC
TAHrORI
* The catacombs show us 2 groups of saints, on the Via Appia
and Aurelia, called Faith, Hope, and Charity, whose mother was
called Sapientia or Sofia. The Diario Romano marks Septem-
ber 30 as the feast of one of these, whose bodies repose at S.
Silvestro in Capite.
THE CATACOMBS 463
Which Marini translates Trophime vigila ! Trophimus,
watch !
This catacomb presents us with a series of names Names,
more commonly adopted in the i. and 11. than in the
III. and succeeding centuries : Phoebe, Narcissus,
Eunice, Epaphroditus, Epaphras, Crescens, Alexander,
are all names mentioned in the Pauline Epistles. But
nothing better illustrates our closeness to the apostolic
age than an inscription which has come to light, in
calligraphy which is the exact copy of the undoubted
inscription to Petwnilla, S. Peter's spiritual daughter :
AELIANE . REPENTINAE
FILIAE . DUE.
The rare name Agapittis occurs here also ; and in the
3rd region the rare name Melior, of whom it is said
vixit in pace ; this expression as we have seen is usually
found on the tombs of foreigners ; Melior probably
came from Africa. It is a coined Christian name, with
a Christian allusion in it.
AURELIA : PHOEBILLA • ET
P. AELIUS • NARCISSUS.
The servile names Narcissus and Phcebilla belong to
the best times of the Empire.* The man's first 2
names are those of the house in which he was a slave,
the third is the name given him by his master. The
woman's servile name is joined to the cognomen of the
house to which she belonged. In this case it is taken
from the household of Caesar. Other inscriptions are
Nepotiane, Sabine, Pelagia, this last with an olive
branchlet and a dove ; it is pre-Constantinian. The
names on other inscriptions from this catacomb are as
follows : Anastasius, Antherus, Apronianus, Aurelia —
* Cf. Romans xvi. i and xvi. 11. Phcebe and Phcebilla are the
same, as Prisca and Priscilla .
464 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ius, Bonifatia, Comina, Constantia, Dionysia, Emilia,
Eros, Faustinus — ianus, Felicita, Flora, Florentina,
Gaudentius, Gregorius, Januarius — a, Leonides, Lucius,
Macarus, Mellita, Messula, Pastor, Secundus, Secun-
dina, Siricus, Theodolus, Urbica, Valerianus, Victoria,
Vitalis, Volunius, Zoticus.
An ancient inscription to a husband and wife is :
GRANIA . ET . ALEX
ANDER.
GRANIA BONA.
Opposite this was found the skeleton of a youth
with threads of gold stuff between the feet. This
denotes the noble condition of the deceased. De
Rossi notices a few other rare examples, none of
which are in Rome. In a gallery here is the follow-
ing :
VALE MICHI KARA IN PACE CUM
SPIRITA XANTA VALE IN
%
An exactly similar inscription was found in the hypo-
geum of S. Soteris, and moved to Anagni by Maran-
goni : it is to one Amelia Aniane placed by her
husband."^' Another inscription ends : spiritum tuum
DEUS REFRiGERET. May God refresh yotiY Spirit.
Symbo- In one of the galleries is an orante within a crown
lism and of leaves, between the letters Aw. X is found on
paintings, n^^ny loculi in one special group of galleries. Once it is
^xX^ and once y^ • A piece of Constantinian money
was found in this region, the head of Rome and the in-
scription urbs Roma on one side ; the impress of the
reverse side remains in the cement, it is the wolf giving
suck with Romulus and Remus beneath ; a shepherd
* Roma Sott., iii. p. 131.
THE CATACOMBS 465
on either side, and a star. The symbol of the ship
occurs ; and from here came the pisciculus going
towards a piece of bread with its mouth half open,
the Constantinian monogram under the bread, men-
tioned elsewhere. In the third region we find P
and the fish and bread. A glass with Peter and Paul
represented belongs to this region, and here too is the
tomb of a fossor, represented with his dolabra, or pick-
axe. The small objects found include many glass Small
vases, of which impressions remain in the cement, objects
nearly all of these being walled into the loculi of °"° '
children. Earthenware lamps, shells, enamel, and
money have also been found.
In the museum at Naples, in the category epigrafi The
provenienti da Roma N". 1883, there exists what Ar- [^.^"^^^f
mellini judges to be the original title of S. Agnese g ^gnes
from this catacomb.
AGNE . SANC
TISSIMA
It is on a fine piece of Palombino marble, and the
small size denotes a child's grave. Bosio speaking of
Agnes's tomb which he saw, writes : " Si videro I'ossa
della santa picciolissime, che ben denotavano esser
fanciulla di pochi anni." The word Sanctissima is
employed here absolutely, as part of her name ; and
Armellini points out that it is the word employed by
the writer of her acts : " Diem festum Sanctissima
Virginis celebremus." In this absolute sense Sanctus
was synonymous with Martyr. Martyr was used
sometimes for those who had not died or even suffered
for the faith, as we use " confessor " to-day ; but even
on martyrs' tombs M is seldom placed. The reason
for this is partly that the character and form of the
earliest inscriptions are private and domestic, and
30
466 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
that the oldest epitaphs are all laconic. The memory
of the martyrs was preserved by the church otherwise,
namely in the diptychs. The Christian poet Prudentius,
IV. century, speaks of tombs on which are inscribed
the number of those interred, " quorum solus habet
comperta vocabula Christus " their names being known to
Christ only.
OSTRIAN CEMETERY OR CCEMETERIUM MAGNUS, ON
THE VIA NOMENTANA. (Vtgna Leopavdi.)
Ostrian The Via Nomentana is one of the most ancient of
catacomb, the Roman roads, it is the ancient Via Ficulensis and
is mentioned by Livy in a.u.c. 301. Ficulea was a
city 9 or 10 miles distant from Porta Collina.* The
Ostrian cemetery lies at the junction of the Salaria
with the Nomentana, in a vigna on the left about a
^ of a mile beyond the Basilica of S. Agnese.
The origin of the Ccemeterium Ostrianiim is unknown to
us ; but it was presumably originally a private founda-
tion, like the great cemeteries of Callistus, Priscilla,
Pontianus, Giordani, Praetextatus, Maximus, Novella,
Thrasus. Up to a few years ago it was erroneously
called the " catacomb of S. Agnese," and was believed
to be the family sepulchre of the gens to which S.
Agnes belonged : it has been remarked that her im-
portance in early Christian history is shown by this
mistake, which transferred to the Ostrian cemetery
the name of the small catacomb hallowed by her
martyrdom.
In the XIV. century guide book " Mirabilia Romae,"
it is called Ccemeterium fontis sancti Petri, or ad jiympham
S. Petri. In the time of Gregory the Great Johannes
the presbyter sent to Rome to collect relics by Theo-
dolinda, Queen of the Lombards, brings oil from the
" ccemeterium fontis S. Petri, ubi prius sedit scs. Petrus,"
and this cemetery was on the Via Nomentana.
Another itinerary has " ccemeterium S. Agnetis idem
* See catacomb of S. Agnese, p. 455.
Names
given to
this cata
comb.
THE CATACOMBS 467
est ac coem. fontis " — the cemetery of S. Agnes is the
same as the cemetery of the Font. In the apocryphal
acts of Liberius and Damasus, which are ancient, and
worthy of credence on points of topography, we read
" non longe a coemeterio Novellae Coemeterium Os-
trianum ubi b. Petrus apostolus baptizaverat " : " Not
far from the cemetery of Novella is the Ostrian
cemetery, where blessed Peter the Apostle baptized."
When Panvinius compiled his catalogue he placed the
Ostrian cemetery first in antiquity " because it was in
use when S. Peter preached the faith to the Romans."
We find the pre-Constantinian name for the cemetery
was Coemeterium Ostrianum, while after the Peace
it was invariably called ad nymphas b. Petri — Blessed
Peter's Well.
Until the solution offered by De Rossi, the meaning The feasts
of these various names was unintelligible. He drew of the
attention to 2 separate feasts marked in the Roman " ^^^^"^ °f
Breviary, each of which is a commemoration " of the ^^^^'
Chair of S. Peter ": ancient tradition had pointed to
this cemetery as one where Peter baptized during the
alleged first visit to Rome in the reign of Claudius,
and also to there being here his cathedra, the place
where the apostle first sat in Rome. The 2 feasts are
on January 18 and February 22, and their existence
was so perplexing to later liturgists that while the
February feast was called the " chair of S. Peter at
Antioch," it still remained inexplicable that no men-
tion of the Vatican " chair of Peter at Rome " occurred
in the Breviary account of the feast in January ; and
this omission was corrected by a Bull of Paul IV. as late as
1557. On the other hand in the Sermon de Sanctis, xv.
attributed to Augustine, and preached on February 22,
there is no allusion to Antioch ; the same is true of the
Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries. Indeed more
than this, for while the Gregorian liturgy calls this
day the Cathedra sancti Petri, a MS. codex of the
same calls it Cathedra S. Petri in Roma.
In the VI. century we found Theodolinda's messenger
30 — 2
468 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
bringing oil from a catacomb on the Nomentana de
sede iihi prius sedit sci. Petrus ; in the Roman Breviary
the feast on the 18 of January is called : Cathedra S.
Petri, qua Roma primum sedit, clearly an ancient title
preserved though no meaning was attached to it. It
becomes clear, therefore, that at a time when the
cathedra of S. Peter on the Via Nomentana was for-
gotten, the February feast was supposed to refer to
Peter's See at Antioch, while the first was called the
chair of S. Peter at Rome. The feast of the 18 January
in fact referred to the chair in the catacomb which we
see was called Pons b. Petri, ubi prius sedit scs. Petrus, "the
Font of S. Peter, where Peter first sat ": the feast of
22 February referred to the chair at the Vatican ; per-
haps therefore a commemoration of Peter's second
visit to Rome, where Peter sat the second time ? The
name " The great cemetery," would then be, De
Rossi opined, an ancient memorial of an apostolic
chair in that place ; the cemetery, he said, could not be
called great in reference to its size, many Roman
cemeteries being larger. '•=
Here once again, the teaching of the catacombs un-
ravels for us questions of the first importance ; and
here also, as we are to see further on, is fresh confir-
mation of the credibility of much which is merely
ancient tradition. *
The calli- A singular family of epitaphs in this catacomb had
graphy often been remarked by De Rossi, cut in letters of
?^J^.® rare beauty and of classic type, and readily distin-
cemetery guished among the thousands of Christian inscriptions
placed in museums. Examples of these can be seen
in the Lateran Museum arranged on Pilaster XX.
Not only do they come from the same workshop, but
they present constantly the same style, the same sym-
• In an early reference to the feast of Agnes' foster-sister we
read : In ccemeierio major e natalis S. Emerentiane " The Feast of
S. Emerentiana in the major cemetery" We cannot think it certain
that coemeterium magiiiis referred to the celebrity of this cata-
comb, the epithet major would well describe the Ostrian cemetery
as distinguished from the little sepolcreto of the martyr close by.
THE CATACOMBS 469
holism, the same words. " The style is so laconic
and classical," writes De Rossi, " that if their origin
from the Christian tombs of this cemetery were not
certain, we should have hardly known whether these
epitaphs were pagan or Christian." Sometimes they
consist of the name, or the surname, alone ; the
majority add the names of those who place the inscrip-
tion, with the d.dd\i\on filio , filice , coniugi, filio dulcissimo,
coniugi dulcissimo, parentibus dulcissimis, and in one or
two cases incompamhili. Of the " solemn Christian
epigraphical formulary " there is here no trace what-
ever, except once in the old acclamation vivas in deo.
All this led De Rossi to the conclusion that they
belong to the very earliest Christian period : "la piu
lontana origine del Cristianesimo."
The greatest number of epitaphs bearing the classi-
cal tria nornina for the men, and the gentilitium and
cognomen for the women, come from this cemetery ;
and the names which prevail carry us back to the
generation of Christians who lived between the reigns
of Nero and the Antonines: the Aurelii, Claudii, Ulpii,
Flavii, Julii, JEYiV'' The name Claudius which pre-
dominates in the Ostrian cemetery, is that of the gens
to which Agnes belonged ; and its occurrence here
may possibly have helped to confound the two ceme-
teries. The highly archaic epitaphs discovered in
different places bearing this gentilitium were supposed
by Signor Armellini to belong to the freedmen of
Claudius ; and in this Ostrian cemetery the name
Claudius is found on tombs which expressly refer to
converts of the imperial household : de domo Casaris.
It must be remembered that tradition assigns this
cemetery, where " Peter baptized " to the time of the
apostle's visit to Rome in a.d. 47, that is during the
reign of Claudius.
We are here in fact carried back to apostolic times,
and we have the tradition confirmed which gave so
remote an origin to this catacomb. De Rossi tells us
* Roma Sotterranea, vol. I.
470 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
that he has discovered in all the catacombs to which
apostolic origin is attributed the characters which
betoken the infancy of the faith, in the inscriptions,
the architecture, the art. " I find in those cemeteries the
sepulchres of many contemporaries of the Flavii and
of Trajan, and in consequence the certain date of the
apostolic age." (" La data certa dell' eta aposto-
lica.")
The Ostrian cemetery is excavated in 2 galleries,
and is approached by a staircase probably of the age
of Constantine. This cemetery is the richest of all in
the variety of its symbolism ; but many of the loculi
have been completely rifled. In all other cemeteries
the architecture of the crypts is wholly without decora-
tion ; but in this cemetery it presents a remarkable
feature. A series of crypts contain sedice, or arm-chairs,
cut in the rock, all of one pattern ; and it is supposed
that this cannot be a mere hizarrerie of the exca-
vators, but refers to the chair here venerated. In one
chamber such a sedia is placed at either side of the
entrance. This is thought to have been a crypt for
the instruction of women catechumens, the seats being
for the deaconesses. There appears, however, to be
an example of a similar use of an emblem to per-
petuate an historical memory, in the catacomb of Prae-
textatus, which was the site of the martyrdom of
Sixtus II. while he was seated in cathedra : inscriptions
in this catacomb are decorated with a sculpted episcopal
chair.
The crypt Bosio who did not identify the catacomb, described
of S. a tribune-like niche and some nearly obliterated red
Emeren- lettering of beautiful form, and De Rossi thought the
ofThe^" description read like that of the crypt venerated for the
Cathedra. " chair in which Peter first sat," the feast of which
was kept on January 18. Padre Marchi bestowed his
chief labours on this cemetery, then known as " of
S. Agnese," but the portions explored presented
nothing more ancient than the in. century. Monsignor
Crostarosa carried on the excavation at his expense.
THE CATACOMBS 471
and the result was the discovery of a crypt in which
there stands a chair against the tufa wall, and opposite
to it in a niche is one of the columns which supported
lamps of perfumed oils. An inscription in the little
tribune, in which the original stucco decorations seen
by Bosio are still faintly discernible, was deciphered
by Armellini, and read both by him and De Rossi : it
was in faded red, and ran as follows : sang • pet . . .
and then c emer ianti. This inscription which of
late years has become illegible, alluded therefore to
S. Peter and to S. Emerentiana. The first legible
letters are amas and probably stand for Damasus, who
would without doubt have placed an inscription at
this place. Had it been, as usual, engraved and not
painted, we should not have had to deplore the scanti-
ness of the legible letters. This crypt lies at the end
of a short gallery at right angles to the present entrance
gallery. It is irregular in shape, and additions have
been made to it. A central luminare lights it. Still
nearer the entrance, and leading from the same short
cumiculum, is a little underground basilica discovered Under-
by P. Marchi. It is 45 feet long, and the gallery ground
divides it into 2 parts ; it is excavated to the height of ^^silica.
2 floors, a himinare falling immediately over the gallery. ^
The entrance to the right of the gallery (entering from
the crypt of the cathedra) shows us an oblong crypt,
divided into 3 portions, the crypt on the right being
divided into 2. At the extreme end of the right hand
crypt is the episcopal chair hewn in the rock, a low
bench running along the wall on both sides, forming
the sedilia of the assistants. Two semi-detached tufa
columns mark the division of this portion from the other
2. A cornice runs along the outer portions, forming a
shelf for lamps ; in the walls are cut arcosolia and
loculi. Between the second and third portions is a
space terminating in a circular niche to the right and
a rectangular niche to the left, presumably for the
sacred vessels etc. The 2 divisions on the left are
similarly separated by 2 semi-detached columns : still
472 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
nearer the entry and adjoining the basilica is another
chamber, divided in two by the gallery.
The date of this work, which was carried out at one
time and on one plan, unlike the other crypts of this
catacomb, is the beginning of the iv. century. The
grounds for this are two : after the Peace a subter-
ranean basilica would not have been constructed, since
it was easy to build churches above ground ; on the
other hand the architectural developments to be
found here forbid our assigning it to an earlier
period.
In the appended plan, the Presbyterium A, was of
course destined for the celebrating bishop and his
assistants. It is understandable that the space on
either side of the gallery may have been required, but
the subdivisions need explanation. The portions B,
and C, may have divided the men and women ; and
the 2 portions D, E, on the other side probably served
for the class of catechumens, the catechumenate dating
from the in. century, and for the Penitents, the peni-
tential system of the Church being fully regulated in
Rome early in the same century.
This part of the catacomb, which is very irregular.
THE CATACOMBS 473
dates its development probably from the time of
Damasus (366).
The level of the crypt of the cathedra and of the
adjacent galleries has been now shown to be the primi-
tive level, so that this is the nucleus of the cemetery,
as the crypts of Lucina are in the Callistan catacomb,
and both carry us back to the apostolic era. An arco- An Arco-
solium in this portion represents our Lord young and solium,
unbearded, between Peter and Paul. The nimbus
dates the fresco, for it does not begin to be an accom-
paniment of Saints till the iv. century.
There are no paintings in the " basilica," or in the
crypt of the cathedra, the damp nature of the rock for-
bidding it. But during the first excavations in the Good
latter crypt, was found the fragment of a statue of the Shepherd.
Good Shepherd. In the same crypt a Good Shepherd
between 2 palm trees is sculptured in the tufa. In the
III. century S. Emerentiana was interred here, and S. Emer-
further embellishment and extension of this region entiana.
must be expected between the years 258 and 384, due
to this second great memory ; the tomb of the martyr
becoming the centre of a hypogeum. Damasus would
certainly have re-decorated the crypt (366-384).
In the second parallel gallery are represented : the Paintings
change of water into wine ; the multiplication of the ^" ^^^^
loaves ; and the following interesting group : in the ^^^^^°'"°-
centre an orante represents the deceased soul received
to the heavenly banquet, which is symbolised by the
5 prudent virgins : on her right the 5 go forth to meet
the Bridegroom with torches ; on the left 4 are already
seated at the feast, the fifth is the orante herself.
Traces of an inscription are to be seen round her head,
which Monsignor Wilpert has deciphered as : Victoria
Virgini pete ... In another cubiculum Christ is repre-
sented with 6 apostles over the arcosolium : on the
roof Jonah under the gourd, Moses striking the rock,
Adam and Eve, a female orante, and in the centre the
Pastor Bonus in the midst of flowers and fruit. In
this chamber is a small table. Another cubiculum is
474 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ornamented with stucco, with paintings of Moses re-
moving his shoes, and striking the rock ; over an arco-
soHum the Good Shepherd, with Daniel among the
Hons on one side, and the 3 children in the furnace on
the other.
On the same floor nearer the entrance, is a square
crypt approached by steps and a vestibule — an orante
with a boy standing before her is represented on an
arcosolium, the monogram of Constantine on either
side. This has been called the crypt of the Blessed
Virgin, from a conjecture that she is here represented
with her Son, Not far from here, is a chamber with a
spring running through it, and hence called a bap-
tistery. There are rude columns in its 4 corners, and
a deep niche ; the paintings are invisible owing to the
deposits of stalactite.
The Sym- The symbols found in the most ancient part of the
holism. catacomb, support the theory of its great antiquity :
the symbols themselves are rare, and it is the anchor
which prevails ; the gamma cross, and the ship occur
also ; seals are frequently met with, one, bearing the
single word spes, occurs at least 12 times. The
Nomen- nomenclature as we have seen tells the same story ;
clature. besides the ancient cognomina already mentioned, we
find the names Ignatia, Ignatius, which are rare in the
catacombs ; Sirica, which is more common, but which
in the iv. century was written Siricia. The name of
the gens Julia, also, which in the in. and iv. centuries
is rare, is frequently found earlier. The following
inscription takes us to the age of the Antonines :
A URel,IA . JUSTINA ET
JULIANUS.
A second bears the anchor and Jish symbols, and is as
follows: Dionysodora . filie . dulcissmci . Victoria . mater
. Faustinus . Pater . Nicf . Soror . Victor . jrater. To
Dionysodora, most dear daughter. Victoria her
THE CATACOMBS 475
mother; Faustinus her father; Nicefora her sister;
Victorinus her brother. This is now in the Lateran
Museum (Table XX.). A fourth beautiful inscription
is : Leontius anima dulcis i.p.c. (in pace). In this cata-
comb VNM stands for benevierenti, as bnm was the Pagan
abbreviation.
All the cubicula, which are supposed to have served
for the instruction of catechumens or for worship, are
double, that is they face one another on either side of
the gallery. The cemetery itself is connected Avith an
extensive arenarium, towards the west, where now
stands the Basilica of S. Agnes. A deep shaft and
stairs lead from these pozzolana pits to the galleries.
A church above ground, built over her crypt, was Basilica of
dedicated to S. Emerentiana after the Peace. A few S. Emer-
ruins in the vigna near the entrance to the catacomb, ^ntiana.
still indicate the site. From the Salzburg Itinerary
we learn that it was in its pristine condition in the
VII. century.
In the reign of Claudius a family named Ostrianum The Gens
or Ostorianum flourished, an Ostorius being at that time Ostoria.
Governor of Britain. This family possessed land on
the Nomentana. The catacomb therefore may have
been in origin the domestic cemetery of the Ostorii.
Here then, perhaps, S. Peter moved from the house of
Priscilla and Aquila on the Aventine, and stayed till he
was obliged to leave by the Edict of Claudius (circa
A.D. 49''') ; and the catacomb may have been extended
in memory of the apostle. We know too that the
Jews had a quarter by the Porta Capena, being very Jewish
numerous in the time of Claudius, and a Hebrew Quarter,
cemetery has been found opposite the Basilica of
S. Agnes. There were also tumults, of which
Suetonius speaks, between the Jews and Christians on
account of a certain " Chrestus.'" Thus Peter would
with great probability have carried on his apostolic
• Aquila and Prisca left Rome as we know from Acts xviii. 2 ;
and were again in Rome ad. 38, the date of Paul's Letter to the
Romans.
476 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
work at this spot, the Nomentana being full of early
Christian memories.'''
S. Emer- Emerentiana was the foster-sister of S. Agnes, she
entiana. was a catechumen, and was martyred while praying at
Agnes's tomb just after her interment. Her feast is
kept on January 23, and her body now rests at the
Basilica near ; the head being preserved at S. Pietro
in Vincoli.
Salaria catacomb of ermete, via salaria vetus.
Catacomb This cemetery which is on the left of the road out-
of Ermete. side Porta Pinciana, and entered through a vigna
possessed by the Austro-Hungarian College, dates
from the 11. century. The Salzbvirg Itinerary tells
us that the ancient entrance was by the Basilica of
Basilla or Basilissa Virgin and Martyr ; and its name
before the Peace was ccemeterium Basilic. The remark-
able feature in its construction is that an ancient
arenarium or sandpit has evidently been adapted to
form a portion of the first floor ; and the walls are
constructed of masonry. To-day there are 2 entrances,
Church of one leading straight to the crypt of Hermetis ; the
Hermetis. other to the gallery leading to the cubiculum of the
martyr Hyacinth. The former is a subterranean
church retaining the masonry of the apse and its
general form of the time of Hadrian. The level is
that of the 3rd floor of the catacomb, and its height
extends to the level of the soil. Clement XHI. in the
XVIII. century tried to restore the cemetery and con-
structed the arches we now see. Passing out from a
low doorway at the apse end, we traverse various
Crypt of cimicoli, arriving finally at the cubiculum of S. Hyacinth.
S. Hya- This is ruinous, it having been found necessary to dis-
cmth. |.yj.jj ^jjg level raised by Damasus, in order to open it.
Here was found the Damasine inscription which has
been placed at the end of the adjacent gallery. The
discovery of these fragments by Padre March i, deter-
* Vide catacomb of S. Nicomedes, and of S. Agnes, ante.
THE CATACOMBS 477
mined the site of Hyacinth's tomb. It had been
always believed that this martyr's body was removed
with that of S. Protus : both were venerated at the
church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, and another
church also claimed to possess the body of S. Hyacinth.
The remains were found charved, thus indicating that
these martyrs, who suffered together, were burnt ; cere-
cloth and threads of a gold costume were found with
the body. In the adjacent gallery is also, fixed to a A Sculp-
wall on the right hand, a very beautiful Good Shepherd tured
in high relief, a sheep across his shoulders, and 2 at ch°\ a
his feet. Underneath in Greek are the words TOAAIA ^^
ASKAHniAKH. Tullia Asklepiake.-
There are some very interesting inscriptions in this Inscrip-
catacomb. Excavations are proceeding at the present ^^°"^-
moment (1896) ; and other discoveries may be expected.
De Rossi places the following in the reign of one of
the Antonines :
AURELIUS PRIMUS
'AUGLIB. TABUL.
XVIII. KAL ET COCCEIA • ATHENAIS
SEPT. FILIAE FECERUNT.
AURELIAE PROCOPENI.
QUE BIXIT • ANN • XIII • MESIBUS III.
DIEBUS ■ XIIII • PAX TECU.
Aurelius Primus, freedman of the Emperor, Notary, and Cocceia
Athenais made this for their daughter Aureha Procope,
who hved 13 years, etc. Peace be with thee.
In 1846 the intact stone of a loculus being removed,
a skeleton Avas found. The inscription on this grave
was to Rnfimis Lector, and the date 402 a.d. Another
• Asclepias is a name found also in the catacomb of Petrus
and Marcellinus. A Matrona Asclepia buried the martyrs during
the Diocletian persecution in Dalmatia ; and in 382 we read of a
coemeterium legis Christianae in praedio Asclepiae : a Christian
cemetery on Asclepia's property. In the narthex of a small
basilica built by her in Salona after the persecutions, a sarco-
phagus, supposed to contain her body, was found, with a relief of
the Good Shepherd in the centre, very similar to the Roman
Asklepia's, which also came from above ground, and is of the iv.
century.
478 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
inscription, in Greek, anterior to the iv, century is :
Prottcs in the Holy Spirit of God [EN Ariw HXeYMATI
6E0YJ lies here. Firmilla his sister (places this) in
memory of him. The consular date on another fixes
it at A.D. 264 : Ti. Cl. Marcianus et Cornelia Hilaritas
Cornelia PaulcB Par. Fecr. qiict vix ami X., etc. That
is : Titus Claudius and Cornelia Hilaria to Cornelia
Paula. Her parents made it. She lived 10 years.
One inscription bears the name Petrus, and a little boat
and fishing tackle adorn the loculus stone. An inscrip-
tion to a wife says :
Cum qua vixi annis X bene
se ne ulla querela IXGTs.
With whom I Hved 10 years well, without any dispute. Icthus.
Three fragments of a long inscription to a wife were
found in which the words '* sacra Dei percipientes "
occur. The word perceptio had always a hidden allusion
to the sacraments, was indeed the secret formula adopted
during the prevalence of the Disciplina arcani. The
words, still to be found in all our liturgies, accipere,
percipere, consequi, consecutio, meant, and mean, the
participation of the sacraments.
In the Lateran Museum is an inscription from this
cemetery, referring to the protection of the martyr
Basilissa : Domina Bassilla Commandamus : " Saint
Bassilla we Crescentius and Micina commend to thee
our daughter Crescentia." A mother ends an inscrip-
tion to her son Aurelius Gemellus with the words: "/«
pace. Commando Bassilla innocentia Gemelli.'" "In peace.
I commend to thee Bassilla the innocence of Gemellus."
The Sym- The symbols which prevail, are the fish, the anchor,
bols. and the bird with the corona shaped bread. Here
also was found the sick-bed scene at which it is sup-
posed 2 deaconesses are assisting, given in d'Agin-
court, tavola xii. 16.
The Mar- Basilissd's story is to be found in the acts of S.
tyrs. Eugenia. Her martyrdom is there attributed to the
persecution of Valerian and Gallienus, her husband
THE CATACOMBS 479
having denounced her as a Christian. In the martyr- Basilla.
ologies her feast day is May 20. Pascal removed her
body to S. Prassede.
Ermete is said to have been Prefect of the city under Hermetis.
Trajan, and to have suffered under Hadrian. He is
said to have been baptized by Pope Alexander (circa
109-120), with his family and slaves in number 1200.
In the VI. century a lamp still burnt before his tomb;
a phial of oil taken from a cemetery on the Via Salaria
Vetus, sent to Theodolinda by Gregory the Great, is
inscribed Scs. Hermis. The origin of the cemetery was Theodora,
therefore in all probability his burial here, in her own founder.
ground, by his sister Theodora. Gregory IV. removed
his body to S. Marco.
The 2 martyrs burnt alive, as we have seen, in the Protus
Valerian persecution, the date assigned for Basilissa's and Hya-
martyrdom also, were the servants of Eugenia, and *^^" '
by her given to Basilissa ; and their acts are contained
in the Passio S. Eugenia. Damasus moved the body
of Protus, which is now at S. Giovanni of the Floren-
tines. He must have ornamented the cubiculum of
Hyacinth, whose tomb was discovered in 1845, and
the remains removed to the Propaganda Fide. In
Italian these 2 martyrs are called Proto e Giacinto.
Thus this cemetery which had its rise in the reign Date,
of Hadrian (117), was further extended in the reign of
Valerian and Gallienus, when the other martyrs were
here interred (253-261).
CATACOMB OF PAMPHILUS, SALARIA VETUS.
This was discovered in 1594 by Bosio ; a small Catacomb
region was rediscovered in 1863 by De Rossi. It lies of Pam-
at the bifurcation of the roads Leoncino and Tre P"""^-
Madonne. The Pamphilus who gives his name to the
catacomb is unknown.
CATACOMB OF LIBERALE, SALARIA VETUS.
This cemetery lies towards the Tiber in the prati
d'acqua acetosa. Neither Bosio nor his successors ever
48o CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
penetrated it ; and it lies to-day entirely inaccessible
and hidden. It takes its name from Liberalis the
Consul. Many Christian soldiers martyred in the
persecutions of Claud the Goth and Julian were buried
here ; among them the soldier Maximus, and the
Diogenes whose memory, as we learn from the itineraries,
was so much venerated.
Salaria catacomb of s. felicita, salaria nova.
Catacomb ^^ Rossi has shown that this is the catacomb
of S. Feli- known in the first ages as ccemeterium Maximi ad S.
cita. Felicitatem. It is unfortunately partly ruinous from
recent works over its area. The founder Maximus is
totally unknown to us. Here was buried S. Felicitas,
in A.D. 162, with her fourth son Silvanus. The
cemetery lay hidden until 1884, when in digging the
foundations of a new building the wall of a basilica
was discovered.
Crypt of The crypt of the martyr, in the upper of the 2
S. Feli- principal tiers, was early transformed into a small
^^^^- basilica. Here is a bust of Christ with the cruciform
nimbus ; his right hand is raised. Beneath him were
8 saints all wearing the nimbus. In the centre there
remain the traces of a large female figure, with 3
youths on one side, and 4 on the other. Portions of
the names are legible, and they are the names of 4
of Felicitas' children. On her right is Silvanus.
The fresco is of the vii. century. Damasus restored
the crypt and placed in it a short carmen. An inscrip-
tion found in 1856 by De Rossi belonged to this
cemetery, and shows that 2 people had bought a
loculus hisomtis " ad Sanctam Felicitatem," that is near
her crypt or tomb. An inscription of Cojistantia que et
Bonifatia,'^ who places a record " ad sanctorum locum,"
pro meritis, that is in gratitude for some event, belongs
here also.
Basilicas. Over the cemetery were two basilicas, one dedicated
to Felicitas by Pope Boniface (418-423), the other to
• Perhaps the sister of Pope Boniface ; the date is a.d. 390.
THE CATACOMBS 481
that pope himself of \vhom it is recorded that he
" lived in the cemetery of Felicitas," i.e., in the group
of buildings at her cemetery. It is here that Gregory
the Great read his Homily on Matt. xii.
No less than 4 catacombs preserve memories of Sancta
these 8 martyrs, and Felicitas is a great name in ^^l^*?!*^
Roman martyrology. The events are placed in Rome seven "^
in A.D. 162. Januarius and Silvanus each suffered gons.
alone, Felix and Philip together, and Alexander,
Vitalis and Martial together. Felicitas having seen
her seven sons martyred, suffered last."
The days which honour their memory are July 10
and November 23. A in. century epigraph in the
Lateran Museum calls the vi. idiis IVL. absolutely
Dies marturorum, " day of the martyrs." In the oldest
liturgical books this day (July 10) is named as the
feast day of the 7 sons. The inscription quoted shows
us therefore that in the in. century in Rome that day
was called par excellence " the day of the martyrs."
The body of Silvanus stolen by the Novatians (252)
had been restored by the time of Innocent I. (402).
The body of Felicitas was translated to the church of
S. Susanna by Leo III., the mosaic inscription he
placed there bearing portraits of himself and Charle-
magne.!
CEMETERY OF THRASUS AND SATURNINUS, SALARIA
NOVA.
This cemetery lies beyond S. Felicitas, one mile Cemeteys
from the walls. Before the Peace it was called ofThrarus
Coemeterium Thrasonis, and after Thrasonis ad S. n"nus ^"'^"
Saturninum.
Between 1720-1740 excavations were made here,
and galleries rich with paintings and inscriptions in
situ came to light. Martyrs of the second half of the
in. century were buried here: 2 glass phials for re-
* The story of Felicitas and her sons has been disputed by
Lightfoot in 1885, and by Dr. Fiihrer in 1890.
t See the church of S. Susanna.
31
Inscrip-
tions.
Thrasus.
Saturni-
nus.
482 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ceiving the blood of the martyrs have been found with
the blood still liquid in them.
Some very interesting inscriptions come from this
cemetery ; the Latin epitaph in Greek letters to the
child Severa, aged 4 years, now in the gallery of sarco-
phagi in the Lateran museum, was found here ; and was
the subject of a book by P. Lupi, S.J. Another runs:
Sozon. Benedictus ndidit. an. nohe Berus 'h^ ispirum in
pace . et .pet . pro nobis. A gemmed cross is represented
on the tablet. This curious inscription which records
that the deceased gave up his spirit in peace to the
venis Christus, and " prays for us," is interpreted by
De Rossi to be an allusion to the sect of Marcian
which denied the physical existence of Christ. S. John
refers to the same doctrine in i Ep. John iv. 3, and in
this phraseology " he that does not confess Jesus "
means he that does not confess the human reality of
Christ. So this Epistle begins with : " that which we
beheld with our eyes, and our hands handled." (Com-
pare also Tertullian De Carne Christi.)"
Thrasus is mentioned in the acts of S. Susanna and
of S. Marcellus, as assisting the Christians who were
condemned to work on the balnea or great Roman
Baths. He was martyred in the reign of Maximinianus,
the martyrologies marking December 11 as the day.
He was vir potens et facultatibus lociiples, powerful and
rich. The field where this catacomb was excavated
was his, and here he buried S. Saturninus. The
presbyter Johannes assisted Thrasus in this pious
task.
Saturninus, buried here, on November 29, was a
deacon, martyred with the deacon Sisinnius in a.d. 302.
* Docetism was one of the earliest aspects of Christian
theology ; on its most obvious side it neglected the theology of
the passion, and never represented the Cross or suffering of
Christ ; on its metaphysical side it began to deny any actual
existence to Christ as man, and to declare His humanity to have
been phantasmal, and His death unreal. S. John's first Epistle is
written against the Docetes,
THE CATACOMBS 483
His body was moved to SS. Giovanni e Paolo ; Sisin-
nius resting at S. Martino ai Monti.
THE ARENARIUM JORDANORUM, VIA SALARIA NOVA.
This was one of the most celebrated cemeteries in Aren-
Rome, and none perhaps was richer in martyrs' tombs arium Jor-
of the Valerian and Diocletian persecutions, and in "anorum.
general decoration. This important catacomb dates
at least from the 11, century. It is now inaccessible.
Here lay Chrysanthus and Daria, It is much to be
hoped that the famous crypt where they were buried,
and where their companion martyrs lay just as they
had been stoned through the shafts above — a scene so
moving that Damasus left it untouched — will soon be
re-excavated.
CATACOMB OF PRISCILLA, VIA SALARIA.
This and the cemetery of Callistus are the two arch
cemeteries of Rome. It is called after Priscilla the
mother of Pudens, contemporaries of Peter. Here
was buried " the flower of the Christianity of Rome
which had heard the living voice of the apostles."
Here lay Priscilla, Pudentiana, Praxedis, Priscilla and
Aquila the fellow helpers of Paul, and the martyr
Prisca. Here perhaps was buried Justin Martyr, and
a number of unknown martyrs 01 the same period.
The 2 sons of S. Felicita, Felix and Philip, the Popes
Marcellinus and Marcellus in the time of Diocletian,
and after the Peace the Popes Silvester, Liberius,
Siricius, Celestinus, and Vigilius.
After its abandonment, the memory of this great
catacomb was so vivid in the minds of men that it
gave its name to all the cemeteries on the Salaria,
which were all believed to be regions of S. Priscilla.
it lies at the 3rd mile at the beginning of the descent
to the river Anio, communicating on the right with
the cemetery of Novella to which it was joined in the
IV. century.
Prom its construction the catacomb of S. Priscilla
31—2
484 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
was probably an arenarium converted into a cemetery ;
the pilasters and walls which we find constructed here
may perhaps have been designed to support the many
buildings overhead. They have helped to conceal tlie
loculi hidden behind them, which have thus reached us
intact, escaping the " barbarians ancient and modern"
who devastated so many loculi in this most interesting
cemetery.
The sepulchres of the primordial region present
characters dissimilar to all the others, and form a Pris-
cillian family. The inscriptions are painted in red on
the tiles, or are deep incisions in the marble filled in
with the same colour. They are usually in Greek,
very simple, consisting of the name, or the name fol-
lowed by the salutation Pax, Pax tecum. Pax tibi.
The most frequent symbol is the anchor, and the palm
occurs also with frequency. The names are those of
the I. and 11. centuries of the Empire. Some are ac-
The name companied by the rare |V| (martyr). The name Petrus
" Petrus." which is most rare in other cemeteries, abounds here.
De Rossi has pointed out that this cognomen did not
belong to Greco- Roman nomenclature, but that it
came into use with the diffusion of Christianity, and
with the I. century of our era, as is asserted by Eusebius
who quotes the authority of Dionysius Alexandrinus.
An inscription in the oldest part, with the single word
IleT/jos perhaps records a disciple of S. Peter's.
Domus If we ask why the name of Petrus should be found
Pudentis. specially here, the reply is that this was the cemetery
of the Domus Pudentis, the house of that Pudens who
received Peter when he came to Rome.
Entering by a door which opens directly on the pre-
sent Via Salaria — the fields which stretch along at the
. height of the entrance affording no sign of the excava-
tions beneath — we come into a wide passage, from
which we can proceed either way. Turning to the
left, on the same floor, the object of greatest interest,
forming also a kind of point de depart, for we can
approach it from galleries on both its sides, is the
THE CATACOMBS 48S
Greek chapel, so called from 2 Greek inscriptions painted Cappella
in one of its apses. This crypt which is one of the Greca.
most beautiful in Roma Sotterranea, is in the form of
a little church, and is constructed with 3 apses. It is
entered by a vestibule : on the right and left wall is
the story of Susanna and the elders (a) the elders find
Susanna in the garden, (b) and (c) (on the left wall)
the 2 elders placing their hands on Susanna's head
swear against her : Daniel rescues Susanna. Over
the door is Moses striking the rock, and the 3 children
in the fire. On the roof Noah in the ark. Over the
archway between the vestibule and the crypt, is a
^-seated Madonna, with the Magi ; the fresco is faint in
colour from the deposits of stalactite. Entering the
apsidal chamber, the apse on the left contains the 2
Greek inscriptions which gave the crypt its name.
They are painted in vermilion on the plaister of the
wall to the right, and record 2 persons 0BP1M02
nAAAAAIoi and 0BPIM02 XE2T0PIANAE, Ohrimus
Palladia and Obrimus Nestoriana. (Obrimos to Palla-
dius, and Obrimos to Nestoriana.)
But the painting of deepest interest was discovered Eucharis-
in 1894, s-'^d is over the arch of the central apse, where ^'^ Scene,
it had been hidden by the deposit of stalactite. Seven
figures sit at a table, six men and one woman : before
them are two dishes, on one of which is a large fish,
on the other bread ; there is a small two-handled cup
to the left of the spectator. On the ground to the left
are four baskets, on the other side of the table three ;
the seven basketsful over which always accompany this
subject. The scene is painted on a red ground, and
the faces are very delicate. A figure at the left side
of the sigma- shaped table holds forward his hands in
the act of breaking bread before his breast ; this is the
solemn liturgical action of the fractio panis {rj kAcio-istou
apTov of Acts ii. 42) repeated by the apostles after the
example of Christ, and mentioned in S. Luke's Gospel
xxiv. 30, in several places in the Acts, by S. Paul, and
also in the Didache one of the earliest of all Christian
486 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Other
paintings
in the
Cappella
Greca.
documents. Compare also Mark viii. 19, the words
about the miraculous multiplication. It is the only
instance of this liturgical action in the catacombs.
The scene is clearly a symbolic representation of the
mystery of the Eucharist : symbolic because of the
presence of the 7 baskets, and because in the time of
Justin in whose lifetime this was painted,''' the Euchar-
ist was already separated from the agape. Here we
have an agape at which the Eucharist is being cele-
brated. The date assigned is the first half of the 11.
century.
Other paintings in this chamber were at the same
time uncovered from their coating of stalactite by
Monsignor Wilpert : the sacrifice of Abraham, Daniel
among the lions, and the resurrection of Lazarus.
Their date is the same. From this discovery of early
paintings we find that the biblical subjects employed
with a symbolic meaning were adopted long before the
III. century, the epoch to which the development of
Christian symbolism has hitherto been generally attri-
buted. The painting of Susanna and the Elders in
the vestibule, which must have been executed in the
course of the 11. century, shows us that this part of the
book of Daniel was then regarded as possessing the
same sacred character as the rest.
The " Greek Chapel " is constructed with bricks
and mortar, and is clearly anterior to the system of
excavations in the tufa which surround it. There are
no loculi, but the 3 deep recesses, or apses, were
designed for 3 sarcophagi, fragments of which have been
collected. The stucco work with which it was orna-
mented is of the style of tlje best classical period.
This was perhaps the crypt of Priscilla, Pudens,
Pudentiana, and Praxedis, which has not been else-
where found. *
Coming from the Cappella Greca, — to the right is a
large stairway leading to the lower floor, and a cripto-
* See his description of the Eucharist in the Letter to Anto-
ninus Pius, Apologia I. Ixv, Ixvi.
THE CATACOMBS 487
porticus. The latter was found with its adjacent crypts
and cubicula in 1864 : a table tomb at the bottom of
it with the consular date a.d. 349, runs thus :
Uranie- Aur- Domnae- Morte
Leontius Neofitus- Q.V. AN. xxxiii. DP. xv. KAL.
Octob. Nichomacho- Flabiano. Conss.
Leontius Neofitus {Neophyte) for the body of Domna Urania Aurelia
ivho lived 33 years. Deposited xv. Kalends of October in the
Consulate of Nichomachus Flavianns.
From which we gather that the news of the victory of
Theodosius had not reached Rome on September 17,
or the rebel consul's name would not have been in-
serted/''
Passing the stairway we come to another cubiculum Cubicu-
with an arcosolium, in the centre of which is a figure him.
of grave beauty : an orante, clothed in a striped dal-
matic, over the head the fringed talith. To her right
is a group of singular interest ; a bearded figure is
seated, and facing -)>, where a young woman stands
close to him, facing 4^) and a little behind her on her
left, assisting her, a young man, also facing sj/. In
her 2 hands she holds a dark folded garment which she
is apparently about to put on.
The seated figure is a Bishop ; his position is in-
dicated by his being disproportionately large, so that
sitting he is as high as a standing figure : the woman is
a virgin or deacon : the youth is the assistant deacon.
The bishop is either giving her the veil, or ordaining
her to the diaconate ; and we know that in this cere-
mony the deacon herself put on the veil. To the left
of the orante is the Madonna seated, her child in her
arms. This charming series undoubtedly marks the
tomb of some woman celebrated from her position in
the church. On the left wall, entering, is represented
Abram and the fire ; Isaac is so burdened with the
* The lowest level of all presents a regularity proving it to be
the work of one period ; and De Rossi believes it to be the
cemetery made by Priscilla Junior, of the time of Diocletian and
Maxentins.
lum
488 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
pack of faggots with which he is trudging up that only
his face is visible. On the right wall is a quaint
representation of the 3 children, standing together in
tongues of brilliant flame, in green doublets and hose.
Obviously a late painting. On the roof are large
peacocks and birds ; also a Good Shepherd with a goat
on his shoulder, standing between 2 trees on each of
which is a large bird, and a sheep and a goat by his
side. On the vaulted roof of the entry Jonah is being
vomited by a dragon-like whale. ''^' Bosius has written
his name on the arcosolium scenes; a great barbarism.
Another In a cubiculum not far distant, on the wall facing
cubicu- the door is one of the rare scenes from common life :
7 men are intent on dragging skins of wine, and
2 huge barrels stand ready. The 7 men have only
12 legs ; the painting is very rude indeed. The crypt
may have belonged to a wine grower. The Good
Shepherd is in the centre of the vaulted roof, 4 orantes
are rudely depicted in its four corners, and in the
lunettes are Noah, and the Jonah-cycle ; across the
Jonah picture near the entrance is a Hebrew graffito
m black letters, being the name of God Elohim.
"Antonius Bosius" is written across the wine-carrying
scene. In this crypt there is the following inscription:
BONAViAE coNiuGi sANCTissiMAE. To Bonavia most
holy wife.
We now pass along galleries shaped in this way
^^-— **«. having some 6 tiers of loculi on each side,
ry'"""^ many of which are intact. In a hidden
corner, on the last tier by the floor, is the
inscribed marble of anntact loculus
CARMINEA VICTORIA
CARMINEO LIBERALI
ALUMNO.
Victoria Carminea to Liberalis Carmineus, alumnus.
The lettering is fine.
* See the chapter on catacomb symbols, p. 388 note.
THE CATACOMBS 489
Many inscriptions here are rough paintings in red
on brick and stone, or red incisions.
In a small crypt is the following on the wall facing
the entrance ; the loculus is intact :
ONHCIMOC
TITw *AABIw
ONHCI*OP« • TEKNw •
TATKTTATw d ZH
de TH d Z C^
The names of apostolic savour should be noticed :
Onesimus to Titus Flavius Onesiphorus, his sweet
child. In the same little crypt is also an intact Latin
inscription.
Just outside this crypt is a small white marble, the
fine letters incised and painted red :
MArXw *
TIw rATKTTATw
To Magnus, most sweet son.
Up a few iron stairs, recently placed to give access. Earliest
we approach a cubiculum, where over a highly painting
decorated loculus is the earliest painting of Mary which gi^g^^
has come down to us : — She is on a raised seat with virgin
the child at her breast, near her head is a large 8-rayed Mary,
star ; this was in red when first discovered, but is now
nearly invisible ; it can however at present be very
distinctly traced on near inspection. Before her stands
a male figure, who points to the star. This may be
one of the magi, or a Prophet. The fresco is ruinous
below the centre of the figure. This deeply interesting
monument was covered with stalactite. The painting
is very fine, and cannot be later than the first years of
the II. century, and is more probably of the i. Bosius
observed it, but failed to recognise its great antiquity.
He has written his name in another part of this
cubiculum. The loculus is also decorated with stucco
work, now in a state of ruin : it represents a Good
Shepherd, and a large sheep near him.
490 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The oldest The inscriptions in this region belong to a period
inscrip- anterior to the Antonines. Those which we have
already alluded to as preserved in their shelter behind
the masonry walls, where the loculi are intact, are the
oldest of all the Christian epitaphs : here are inscrip-
tions to freedmen of the imperial household, perhaps
"those of Caesar's Household" recorded by Paul in
the letter written from Rome to the Philippians. The
-excavations received a great extension between the
years 1887-90 : in one of the galleries were found the
large recesses for sarcophagi, and 3 arcosolia originally
decorated with mosaic. One of these had represented
a Virgo Sacra, the adoration of the magi, and a scene
from the Passion. This had been seen and drawn by
Seroux d'Agincourt in 1780. After this the mosaics
were sacked, and what now remains is only the im-
pression in the plaister. Another in the same state
shows us the large figure of a woman, amply mantled,
which perhaps represented Priscilla : she is portrayed
as an orante, and the traces of 4 smaller figures remain
below her, which would have represented Pudens and
Claudia, and their 2 daughters ; or these latter with
Graffiti. Novatus and Timothy. There are many graffiti in
this part of the cemetery ; in one we read Limina
Sanctorum, the threshold or abode of the saints.
Another long graffito in capitals mentions : Domnce
Priscilla. This then was one of the sanctuaries fre-
quented by pilgrims from the iv. century.
On the roof of a cubiculum, near a large staircase
which descends to the different levels recently dis-
covered, is Peter receiving the book of the Gospels
from the Redeemer who is seated on a globe. After
the Peace this subject is found with the inscription :
Dominus legem dat — the Lord gives the Law — as a new
Orpheus. Sinai.* In another arcosolium Orpheus amongst the
animals is represented ; this is one of the 4 examples
* There is an instance of this subject in which Christ gives a
book to Valerius Severus, with the inscription Dominus legem dat
Valerio Seven, signifying his conversion.
THE CATACOMBS
491
of the subject. In the same cubiculum are the follow- Inscrip-
ing inscriptions : ^'°'^^-
PAX TE
VALERIA
i
lYLlA
ANNIHA ElMP/eX
Peace be with thee, Valeria. Julia, Virgin, guileless spirit.*
These 2 also come from S. Priscilla :
IVL • TARSAHEC
C-SECVNDINE COJVGI
DVLCISSIME PAX
Julius Tarsaeus To C. Secundina most sweet wife. Peace.
AVRELI • VARRO
DVLCISSIME • ET
DESIDERANTIS
SIME • COIVX • PAX
TIBI • BENEDICTE
To Aurelius Varrus, most dear and most desired husband
Peace be with thee blessed one.
One inscription records an aqui . ., another priscus
. . , uLPi^, remarkable for the names Aqnila and
* In catacomb inscriptions however, spiritus is always used for
the deathless part : spiritus inns in Bono ; anima for the character ;
the animal soul, as here, where singleness is noted as the character
of the deceased girl, a distinction preserved in i Thess. iv. 23.
Crypt of
the Mar-
tyr Cres-
centio, dis-
covered
1 890- 1.
Hypo-
geum of
Acilius
Glabri-
onius.
492 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Prisons, and for Uipia the gentilitium of the Emperor
Trajan. Another, in Greek, is to " Caia Phoebe,
philandra (lover of her husband) Kapiton her husband
(synbios) placed this, and for himself also." Phoebe
is the rare name mentioned by Paul as that of the
woman deacon who carried his letter to the Romans.
A 4th inscription runs : Titus Flavins Felicissitnus positiis
est, probably to the son of a freedman of the Emperor
Titus.
A region has been discovered which leads from the
foot of a stairway to an ancient hypogeum, covered
with the names and prayers of visitors to the martyrs'
shrines. Amongst these invocations are prayers to
Priscilla the founder, and to the martyr Crescentio,
the poor blind companion martyr of Laurence. In
the crypt of Crescentio is a rude fresco on the right
wall representing the 3 children refusing to adore
Nabuchodonosor's idol ; on the left wall the 2 resur-
rections, of Lazarus, and the Ruler's daughter, were
painted ; but the plaister has perished. Many Latin
and Greek names and acclamations were written
across them.
In 1888-9 a hypogeum was discovered which
possesses a special interest. In his life of Domitian,
Suetonius relates that the emperor exiled the consul
Acilius Glabrionus, with many others, as " molitores
rerum novarum"; without doubt this description
alluded to the *' new superstition" spoken of both by
Suetonius and Tacitus. Dion Cassius adds that
Acilius was not only accused of " starting new
things," but of the same faults for which many others
had fallen victims ; having previously spoken of
Flavins Clemens and his wife Domitilla, accused of
atheism.'-' Baronius and others had therefore always
suspected that the consul had been condemned for his
Christianity; and to-day this is rendered certain by
* Vide also catacomb of Domitilla on the Ardeatina. Atheism
was a charge brought against Christians, as despisers of the
Koman gods.
THE CATACOMBS 493
the discovery of this hypogeum which is the burial
place of his near and distant descendants. It consists
of a Hall, which was the chief mortuary chamber ; the
walls were originally marble, and 2 fine fluted columns
of giallo antico have been put together from the pieces
found among the debris. Bits of inscription with the
names of the Acilii Glabriones abound.''' This hypo-
geum is in the primitive and central region of the
cemetery, and it is stated that it may have been the
nucleus of Priscilla's catacomb; and hence Priscilla
was probably of kin to the Acilii, and co-proprietor of
this land with the Consul. One inscription in fact
commemorates a Priscilla of Senatorial rank, married
to one of the Manii Acilii Glabriones noble even in
Republican Rome. The tract was originally separated
from the other galleries which now branch off from it.
We have seen that a number of buildings stood Basilica
over this catacomb ; the ruins of the Basilica of S. °f S. Syl-
Sylvester and its annexed oratories have recently been ^^^'^'■•
found, and their site exactly corresponds with the top
of the crypt of Acilius Glabrionus. This basilica,
constructed after the Peace, was restored by Adrian I.
Here were translated the bodies of Felix and Philip,
and the sarcophagus of Marcellus with 2 other Popes
Celestinus and Vigilius, lying near. Near Pope Syl-
vester lay Siricius, the successor of Damasus. None
of the original resting-places of these Popes has yet
been discovered : the Liber Pontificalis tells us that
Marcellus was buried near the crypt of Crescentio. The
catacomb suffered in the siege of Vitiges 537 a.d. and
again under Aistulphus and the Lombards in 755.
From this time, when Paul L removed the body of
Sylvester to S. Silvestro in capite within the city, the
catacomb was abandoned.
A rude instance of an inscription with the martyrs' A martyr's
letter |y|, traced with ancient coloured lettering on the tomb.
* Magnus Acilius Glabrionus was Consul with Trajan ad. 95,
and Pertinax (193) declared the Glabriones to be the noblest of
the Patricians.
494 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
tiles, has been railed off by De Rossi as betokening
the resting-place of a martyr. To this same family
of inscriptions belonging to the first generation of
Christians who lie in this cemetery, pertains the
Filumena. II. century tombstone of a certain Filumena found
here in 1802. Three tiles were seen with Pax tecum
Filumena inscribed on them ; the symbols were an
anchor four times repeated, a flower twice, and a palm.
The inexpert fossor in putting the 3 pieces together
had placed lumena first, a piece of unskilfulness
by no means singular in the catacombs.
Flower 1
anchor
PAX TE
CUM FI i
LUMENA
flower palm
anchor
anchor 1
anchor
anchor
Flower
LUMENA
PAX TE
flower palm
CUM FI
anchor
anchor.
anchor
In 1832 a nun had a revelation of the life and death
of a Christian martyr called Filumena, which began
the special veneration for this unknown martyr. But
nothing has increased it so much as the veneration
felt for her by the holy priest Jean Baptiste Vianney,
the Cure d'Ars, to whom Filomena was " cette chere
petite sainte " ; who worked miracles for him, and to
whom he erected a chapel in his parish church at Ars.
The inscription was removed to a museum out of
Rome, and the place in the cemetery where it was
discovered was left unmarked.
Carmen to Oiie of the inscriptions found in this cemetery, but
Agape. now removed from it, is in the following rare form of
a carmen on an unknown woman Agape :
THE CATACOMBS 495
Eucharis est Mater Pius et Pater est
Vos precor 0 Fratres orare hue quando Veiii{tis)
Et precibus totis Patrmn Natumque rocatis (rogatis)
Sit vestrcB 7nentis Agapes Cara meminisse
Ut Deus omnipotens Agapen in sacula serve(t)
Dixit et hoe Pater omnipotens ettm . . .
De terra sutnptus terra traderis hu{mandus)
Sic nobis Situ Filia et Agape Christ . . .
Bis denos septem Q annos Emesa . . .
Hac illi per Christum fuerat sic . . .
which calls on all the brethren who come there to pour
forth their prayers to the Father and the Son, to have
in mind dear Agape, whose mother was Eucharis and
father Pius, that the almighty God may keep her for
ever. Notice in the 6th and 7th lines the reference to
Adam and Eve after the fall, the way in which they are
always represented in the catacombs : " The Almighty
Father . . . said : taken from the earth to the earth
thou shalt return."
Priscilla (i), the mother of Pudens, is presumably Priscilla.
the founder of this cemetery. Little is known of her,
as little is known of Pudens, but if the story which
makes her S. Peter's host is authentic, and makes the
Pudenti family Paul's converts, we can readily imagine
the part she played in the first beginnings of Christianity
in Rome. A second Priscilla (11) is her descendant,
owner like herself of t^ie catacomb, who befriended
Pope Marcellus, and gave him permission to build a
crypt in her cemetery (a.d. 304). This Priscilla gave
the catacomb to the Church, one of the 2 first gifts
recorded to that society into which the treasure of the
civilized world has since flowed. Prisca or Priscilla
(in), Avife of Aquila, tentmakers of Rome who fled to
Corinth with other Christians and Jews after the
Claudian edict (a.d. 49) is that Priscilla who was
friend and co-labourer of Paul, and who taught
Apollos " the way of God more carefully." In Rome
she and Aquila received Peter. She is buried in this
catacomb with' Aquila.* De Rossi has conjectured
• The Martyrologies, the Acta, the Itineraries, all state that
they were buried here. Another confirmation of Priscilla's rela-
tion to the mother of loudens.
496 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
that Prisca or Priscilla was a freedwoman of the great
Priscilla, or that Priscilla was her patron. Hence her
name. The relation between the domus Pudentianm
and the domus Priscce has been described in the account
of those 2 churches. (See : Church of S. Prisca on
the Aventine.)
Justin Justin Martyr, born about a.d. 103 in Shechem a
Martyr, ^jj-y q£ Samaria, called by the Romans Flavia Neapolis,
was a Pagan, and one of that brilliant little company,
including Origen, and Clement of Alexandria, and the
neo-Platonist Synesius, who were brought to Chris-
tianity through philosophy." This Greek philosopher
continued to wear and to teach in the philosopher's
pallium in Rome, after he became one of the first of
the Christian apologists. His writings, among the
first of Christian writings, have nearly all come down
to us : they include the first Apologia written to Anto-
ninus Pius, the 2nd. written to Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus, and the Dialogue with the Jew Tryphon.
He was martyred under Aurelius circa a.d. 165. Asked
to point out where he and other Christians met, he
would only name his own house, f His festival is on
April 14 ; and the present Pope has extended the office
and mass for the day to the whole church.
CATACOMB OF NOVELLAy. VIA SALARIA NOVA.
The last catacomb on the Via Salaria, lying opposite
that of Priscilla, to which it was joined, as we have
seen, in the iv. century. Novella had constructed it
in her own ground as an amplification of the latter,
and nothing earlier than the early iv. century is to be
found there. It is inaccessible.
* Clement compares philosophy to the fire brought by Pro-
metheus to illumine and gladden the nether world. Even as
early as the iii. century the superstition innate in the Orientals
and the inroads of barbarian peoples made the absence of a
philosophic temper felt within the Church itself. This was
apparent in the early iv. century, in the calibre of the Christianity
then so warmly embraced by Constantine,
t This is called the Title of Pastor in the House of Pudeiis.
THE CATACOMBS 497
THE CATACOMB OF LUCINA, VIA OSTIA. VlA
This is the place where the first Lucina buried the Catacomb
apostle Paul. It was in her own ground, and originally of Lucina.
there existed here as at the Vatican a tropaum* or cella
memoria, which perhaps was a monument above
ground. The body of S. Paul lies now where Lucina
first placed it, and where her successor Lucina re-
placed it in the in. century. A small portion of the
cemetery was accessible until the xvi. century, and it
is much to be desired that it should be reopened ;
although, in order to preserve the site of the apostle's
grave intact, the 3 Emperors built the great basilica
immediately over the spot, and so devastated the
cemetery (a.d. 386), of which a few galleries at most
may survive.
Several hundred inscriptions from the area above Inscrip-
ground have been arranged by De Rossi in the museum ^^°"^-
of the annexed monastery, and from this cemetery come
the most ancient of all Christian inscriptions. Boldetti
gives us 3, two of which are the oldest known to us
bearing a consular date, the one being in the consulate
of Sura et Senecio, 107 a.d., the other in that of Piso
et Bolanus, no a.d. The former is scratched on the
mortar of the loculus, the latter incised on marble.
The 3rd has been edited by Marangoni : — •
DORMITIONI
T. FLA. EUTY
CHIO . QUI . VI
XIT . ANN . XVIIII
MES. XI. D. Ill
HUNC . LOCUM
DONABIT . M.
ORBIUS HELI
US. AMICUS
KARISSIMUS
KARE BALE.
Marcus Orbius Melius his most dear friend gave this locus as a sleeping-
place for Titus Flavins Eutychius, who lived 19 years,
11 months, and 3 days. Dear one, Farewell.
* So Eusebius calls it.
498 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Consular
date A.D.
235-
Consular
date A.D.
360.
Consular
date A.D.
377-
An inscription of a precisely similar character may
be seen on Pilaster XIV. of the Lateran Museum ;
Marangoni tells us it was taken by theft from the
catacomb of Lucina, and the anchor and fish are traced
on it. Boldetti and Bosius both in fact confused the
cemeteries of Lucina and Commodilla, the latter
having been penetrated by Boldetti. These inscrip-
tions then, though given by Boldetti as from the
Lucina catacomb, may possibly come from that of
Commodilla. A still more ancient dated inscription
exists, of the " Third year of Vespasian " a.d. 72 ;
but it is no longer possible to say from which cemetery
it comes.
De Rossi rediscovered a small area of Lucina's
catacomb, and found 3 inscriptions to presbyters, one
of which he assigns to the 11. century. From the
open air area come 3 inscriptions with their consular
dates : —
(i) Aurelia dulcissima filia quae | de saeculo recessit | vixit ann.
XV M. iiii I Severo et Quintin . coss.
(2) Pelegrinus in pace cum uxorem suam Sil | vanam qui exibit
in pace xiiii. Kal. Ian. \ Dn. Const. Aug. x. et lul. Cass. iii. conss.
(3) Qui vixit ann. xlvi mens vii D Biiii deposit in pace Kal
Mart. I Cinammius Opas lector tituli Fasciole amicus pauperum
I Gratiano iiii et Merobavde conss.
LUCINA.
There are so many historical spots in Rome con-
nected with this name Lucina that it is difficult to make
choice of one with which to connect this account of
her. It appears in the story of each persecution from
apostolic times to the date of the " Peace." For the
first Lucina was succeeded by descendants who bore
the same name, to the iv. century. The name
Lucina, with "Venerable" or "blessed" before it,
appears as that of the Mothers of Roman Christians
and Roman Christianity, from the inception of the
Faith till its recognition by the Roman Empire.
Lucina was perhaps a Christian surname, alluding to
the light of her new faith.
THE CATACOMBS 499
While it would seem, observes Armellini, that out
of reverence for these noble women the great mass of
the Christians of those days refrained from using that
revered name, and we find no Lucina among Christian
epitaphs/'' each of the descendants of Lucina bears
the simple name Lucina also. The same thing may
be noticed as regards the name of Peter and indeed
of Paul ; they were not adopted, or but sparsely, in
early Christian nomenclature.
Besides the Appia and Ostia in the days of Peter
and Paul, Lucina possessed land on the Aurelia, out-
side the Aurelian Gate, for she buried here the gaolers
of the apostles, Processus and Martinianus, who were
martyred on this road, " on the sixth nones of July."t
In the middle of the iii. century, another Lucina, in Lucina
the time of Pope Dionysius, moved the bodies of the ^"^4 ^°'''
apostles from their temporary resting place ad cata- "^^ '"^'
cumhas on the Appia, and deposited the body of Paul
in her own land on the Ostia, where her ancestress had
first laid him to rest. The elder Lucina's descendants
all owned her crypts on the Appia, and hence we find
this Lucina burying the body of Cornelius there :
corpus ejus b. Lucina collegit et sepelivit Via Appia inpradio
sHo.\ In the year 270 we find a Lucina, perhaps the Lucina
same, burying S. Sebastian ad catacumhas. There would ^"^ S- Se-
seem to be a possibility that Cornelius, the first pope '^^^^*^"-
belonging to an old Roman gens, and buried in the
sepulchre of the Cornelii in the crypts of Lucina, may
have been related to the latter. She is often identified
with this pope, so much so that his name is in one case
inserted where Dionysius ought to appear.
Finally, in the iv. century, on the eve of the Peace, Lucina
and during the worst of the persecutions, under ^"<| Mar-
Diocletian, the name of the last Lucina is bound up '^^^'"^•
with the history of the catacombs and of the martyrs
* There was a Lucina virgin and martyr, destined to be a
Vestal, to whom her parents dedicated a statue. Her brother
was a PrcBtextatus.
t Vide catacomb of Processus and Martinianus.
\ In prcedin suojuxta Ccemeterium CalUsti, says the Lib. Pont.
32 — 2
500 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Mar-
cello al
Corso.
The first
of this period. She was the friend and supporter of
Pope Marcellus, whom she received into her house,
and afterwards gave it to him : and here he conse-
crated a church. This is the site of S. Marcello in the
Corso. She buried Marcellus himself in Priscilla's
catacomb.
She was regarded by all as the "common Mother";
and when she came to die she bequeathed her goods
for the use of the church " that the poor might be
fed, and that the altars might be provided with the
necessary things." This gift, with that of Priscilla
gifts made ^g,- friend and contemporary, are the two first dona-
Church of tions made to the Christian society of which we have
Rome. authentic knowledge.*
We have seen that there was no trace of the name
Lucina in the catacombs of their foundation. But
in the last decade a discovery was made by Signor
Seal of
Lucina.
Armellini in the cemetery of S. Agnese. On the
plaister margin of a loculus in one of the galleries, he
found the impression of a seal with a palm leaf and
the inscription turr . lucines. We give the exact
copy. We have here the seal of the Lucina of the
*■ Capefigue, Les Qiiati-es Socicfcs, Tome ii. p. 24C.
THE CATACOMBS 501
III. century, of whom it is recorded that she buried
with her own hands some of the martyrs and con-
fessors, and of the " simple faithful also." A few
years later De Rossi found the same seal in the crypt
of S. Emerentiana. The evidence points to the con-
clusion that Lucina had this seal made for the purpose
of sealing the sepulchres ; such a usage being very
common in the Christian cemeteries. The one dis-
covered by Armellini was repeated 10 times.
The TURK, stands for Turannia, a name of ancient
nobility, which is mentioned in Tacitus. De Rossi
has discovered kinship between this gens and the cele- .
brated houses of A nici and Bassi praised by Jerome and
recorded in a hymn of Prudentius. The palm branch
chosen as an emblem by Lucina was appropriate to the
Christian dead of the first centuries, and to the special
period of persecution in which she lived. The Greek
ending Lucin^s should be noticed. So we have Eugenics
Agap«.*
CEMETERY OF COMMODILLA, VIA OSTIA.
This is mentioned in the ancient Index of the ceme- Commo-
teries, and w^as the foundation of an unknown matron, dilla.
who established it in her own land. It would be entered
* See Catacomb of Callistus, p. 423. The passage about Pom-
ponia from Tacitus is: " Pomponia Graecina, a distinguished
woman, wife of the Plautius who returned from Britain with
an ovation, and accused of some foreign superstition, was re-
mitted to her husband's decision. According to the ancient
custom, involving as it did the legal status and reputation of his
wife, he heard her cause in the presence of the kinsfolk, and de-
clared that she was guiltless. This Pomponia lived a long life
and of continual melancholy. For after the murder of Julia, the
daughter of Drusus, by Messalina's treachery, she wore no attire
but that of a mourner, had no heart but a sorrowful one. For
this she remained unpunished while Claudius reigned ; and after-
wards it turned to her glory." The Annals proceed, " The same
year saw many impeached." (Taciti AnnaHum xiii. 32, a.u.c.
810. A.D. 57.) Ovation of Plautius, a.d. 47. Messahna mur-
dered : A.D. 48. Julia (sister of Germanicus, her second husband
being Rubellius Plautus) put to deatb a.d. 59. Claudius reigned
from AD. 41 to 54. The Annals of Tacitus go down to a.d. 68.
502 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
from the vigna Villani under the hill on the left of the
road, but it has been entirely devastated. Some most
interesting frescoes were seen in it by Boldetti.
Three small cemeteries also lie on the Ostian way,
that of Theona, discovered in 1872 while a region pre-
sumed to form part of Lucina's cemetery was being
and Zeno. penetrated ; that of Thecla* penetrated by Boldetti, the
only remains of which have now been discovered by
Armellini ; and that of Zeno alluded to by Bosio, who
found it mentioned in a Latin Codex ; its existence
is now rendered certain by discoveries made by the
Trappists of Tre Fontane.
Cata-
combs of
Theona,
Thecla,
Via
AURELIA.
Cemetery
of Octa-
villa.
CEMETERY OF OCTAVILLA AND PANCRATIUS, VIA
AURELIA. (OTTAVILLA E PANCRAZIO.)
The Itineraries give us as the first station on the
Aurelia Antica the cemetery and basilica of Pancratius.
It lies outside the gate of that name, on the Janiculum.
Nearly all the cemeteries on this Road lie under pri-
vate property, and are in great part unexplored. The
galleries here are narrower than usual and are very
spoiled ; very few traces of paintings and very few
inscriptions remain. The soil is so friable and humid,
that it was necessary even in the iv. century to support
the galleries, and traces of this work can be seen. On
some inscriptions the anchor is found. Boldetti gives
us 2 epitaphs, dating after the Peace. One to a woman
called Rosula, and one to a man Socrates. A iv. cen-
tury inscription to a certain Sabina, found by Armellini,
has been affixed to the walls. Boldetti has also pre-
served an ancient inscription with excessive expres-
sions of grief very rare in the first four centuries of the
Faith : — in pace idibus aug domitianus | infelix et
MISER POST OBiTUM | TuuM VIVO. Ill peacc : on the ides
of A ugust Domitian unhappy and wretched I live after thy
death. A few others previous to the iv. century have
been found.
* The Thecla, founder of this hypogeum, is ignotissima.
THE CATACOMBS 503
In the basilica erected over Octavilla's catacomb Basilica
and dedicated to Pancratius,* lay interred the martyrs ^-nd Gre-
Artimius, Paulinus, Sofia and her 3 daughters, homiW.
Agape, Pistis, and Elpis. S. Gregory the Great read
his 32nd Homily in this church. In it he told his
hearers of a matron who during the Gothic wars came
to pray at the shrine of SS. Processus and Martinianus :
one day these martyrs appeared to her dressed as pil-
grims, and as her almoner (Erogator) was about to
give them an alms at her direction, they came near to
her saying : " T?< tios modo visitas ; nos te in die judicii
reguiremus et quidqnid possumus prastahimiis tihi " and
disappeared. "Thou dost visit us now; but we in
the day of judgment will seek thee, and will give thee
whatever help we can."
An illustrious Christian Octavilla recovered the body Octavilla.
of Pancratius, and buried it in a sepulchre in her own
land.
This celebrated martyr was decapitated on the Via Pancra-
Aurelia, being only 14 years old. This was during ^^"^•
the Diocletian persecution.
CEMETERY OF LUCINA, OR OF SS. PROCESSUS AND Cemetery
MARTINIANUS, VIA AURELIA. °' Proces-
' sus and
This important catacomb is almost entirely hidden Martini-
under the earth and ruins which have covered it for ^"^"^^
centuries. Some galleries are still to be seen in the
ruinous tracts extending under the Villa Pamfili Doria Origin,
and the Via Pellegrini. The catacomb is due to Lucina, The
and is therefore apostolic; and either she herself or Lucina ^
one of her illustrious descendants of the iii. century wg
was buried here,
A basilica dedicated to the 2 martyrs once existed Basilica,
here. Some say it was here that on their feast day
July 2, Gregory read his 32nd homily on the xvi.
Matthew.
Processus and Martinianus are called the first fruits Processus
and Mar-
• See Church of S. Pancrazio, tinianus.
504 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
of the faith in Rome ; and they formed, perhaps, part
of the multitude of victims under Nero. In their acts
we are told that Lucina comforted them in their dread-
ful sufferings and attended them in prison, a few days
after the death of the apostles. This cemetery took its rise
from their interment here. The Breviary tells us that
they were 2 keepers of the Mamertine prisons at the
time the apostles were confined there. They were
converted and baptized with 40 other persons in the
water which sprung from a stone in the prison." They
refused to venerate the image of Jupiter (perhaps the
Jovis Capitolinus close by !) and were then horribly
tortured, beaten with clubs, while burning plates were
applied to their bodies. In this torment the only cry
heard was these words: Sit nomen Domini henedictum .
They were cast back into prison, and then despatched
on the Via Aurelia. Lucina buried them sexto mnas
Julii. Their bodies now lie in the Vatican, where
there is a chapel to their memory.
Cemetery CEMETERY OF CALEPODIUS, VIA AURELIA.
of Cale-
podius. This cemetery on the Aurelian Way used to be
confused with that of Octavilla. It lies at a con-
siderable distance along the road, neglected in a
vigna.
Callistus. Here Callistus was buried, and here Julius I. erected
The over the site the basilica to his memory, the first in
basilica. Rome dedicated to a martyr Pope (340).
S. Cale- Calepodius is the old priest martyred shortly before
podius. Callistus, whose body was thrown into the Tiber, and
whom Callistus took care to bury honourably.
Basilica of A basilica of S. Felix was built further along the
S. Felices Aurelia after the Peace, dedicated to S. Felix II., who
himself built a basilica there. This is the pope men-
tioned on p. 521. He was archdeacon of Rome when
elected ; and declared the son of Constantine a heretic.
(Duchesne, Lib. Pontificalis.)
* Vide church of S. Pieti-o in carcere.
■ THE CATACOMBS 505
CEMETERY OF GORDIANUS AND EPIMACHUS, ON THE Via
VIA LATIN A. Latina.
This is the first catacomb reached on the Via Latina, Cemetery
outside the Latin Gate, a road which like the Appia °^^g''^.^"
and Fiaminia was flanked in imperial times with machus.
sepulchres, and was one of the vies praclarissima . The
catacomb has not been excavated, 11. century martyrs
were buried in it. Gordian was interred here in the
time of Julian the apostate. Epimachus was an Alex-
andrian martyr.
CEMETERY OF TERTULLINUS, VIA LATINA.
A catacomb, of unknown origin, discovered by Bol-
detti in 1687. Over the entrance was the inscription :
Coemeterium B. Tertullini Martyris. It is now hidden,
but is supposed to lie at about the same distance on
the Latina as Eugenia's catacomb. It has never been
excavated. The martyr Tertullinus suffered under The
Valerian. martyr.
THE CEMETERY OF S. EUGENIA, OV APRONIANI,
Lay at the second mile of the Latina. It was entered Cemetery
in 1596 by Bosio, and afterwards destroyed under his of Euge-
eyes. "'*
CEMETERY OF DOMITILLA, ON THE VIA ARDEATINA.''= Via Ar-
This is one of the 5 cemeteries which date from apos- catacomb
tolic times. It stretches under the tenement called of Domi-
to-day Tor Marancia (Torre Amarantia), and was first tilla.
penetrated by Bosio who confused it, as his successors
have also done, with the catacomb of Callistus. It
was here that Bosio and his companions were lost, as
related elsewhere.
\Xe know that the pradia Amarantiana belonged in Praedia
the I. century of the Empire to a branch of that gens Amaran-
Flavia, which ascended the throne of Augustus with "^"^
Vespasian. One of this gens was Titus Flavins
* In the Itineraries : Coemeterium Domitillae, Neri et Achillei,
ad S. Petronillam, Via Ardeatini.
5o6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The
Flavii.
Flavia
Titus
Flavius
Sabinus.
Sabinus, who was twice Prefect of Rome, under Nero
in 64 and again in 69. His brother, Titus Flavius
Vespasianus, is the Emperor Vespasian.
Christianity entered early into the Flavian House ;
in the time of the apostles there were illustrious
members not only Christians but martyrs. These
Christian Flavii belonged precisely to that branch of
the gens which possessed the Praedia iVmarantiana,
where the catacomb of Domitilla was excavated. A
stone recently come to light has shown us that this
spot was pradium Flavice Domitilla, the land of Flavia
Domitilla. Domitilla.* Pagan and ecclesiastical history both
attest the fact that members of this family embraced
the new faith, and this has received confirmation from
the most recent discoveries in the catacombs. We do
not know who was the first person to be converted,
but from the position of Titus Sabinus as Prefect of
Rome he must have examined the causes of the Chris-
tians during the Neronian persecution. Thus perhaps
he was led to become a Christian himself, or at least
to be inclined towards the Christians. This suspicion
is apparently confirmed by certain uncomplimentary
remarks about him made by contemporary historians :
Tacitus notices in him a great meekness of mind and
nature " mitem virem abhorrentem a sanguine et
caedibus," words which as applied to a Roman official
imply censure. Towards the end of his life this failing
appears to have become strengthened, so that he was
incomprehensible to the gentile Romans " in fine vitae
alii segnem credidere," they thought him apathetic
and did not understand him. Such was the language
employed when the higher classes suspected of Chris-
tianity were alluded to. '
His daughter the celebrated Flavia Plautilla married,
daughter, gj^^j Yiei daughter is Flavia Domitilla the founder of
this catacomb. His two grandsons were called respec-
* A piece of ground was granted to Sergius Cornelius Julianus
" ex indulgentia Flavias Domitillae Neptis Vespasiani ": by the
grace of Flavia Domitilla niece of Vespasian.
His
THE CATACOMBS
507
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508 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The cata-
comb.
Flavian
region.
tively Vespasian and Domitian by their uncle the
Emperor Domitian who wished to name them as
his heirs. It was when Christianity had been almost
placed upon the throne of Augustus, that it was cast
from the splendours of the Palatine to the gloom of
the catacombs : after 30 years of peace the Emperor
Domitian himself recommenced the persecutions, and
their most illustrious victims were his cousin Titus
Flavins Clemens and Flavia Domitilla. (See genea-
logical plan.)=^-
From this persecution dates the new crime invented
to meet the case of the Christians molitores rerum
iiovarum, movers of new things; not, as the historian says
of one of these victims, that he had broken any law,
but tantum molitor rerum nova.r\im, as a tnover of new
things.
Clemens and his wife were accused of atheism, and
condemned on this charge. Domitilla the younger
was exiled for the same crime to the Island of Pontia.
(Eusebius.)
The catacomb is excavated in two principal floors,
wnth several minor floors ; there being no less than
5 levels in some regions. The galleries in some places
are very large and high. Its character shows it to
appertain not only to the first age of Christianity, but
to a noble Roman family. Originally different hypoga^a
were placed in various parts of the praedia, each having
its own entrance, and united later by galleries and by
secondary excavations from the in. century onwards.
To the primitive period, the epoch of the Flavii, are
traceable two great centres of excavation, at a distance
one from another, and almost contemporaneous.
In 1865 the entrance to the first of these was found ;
it is not one of the hidden entrances, but is on the
public road which joined the Ardeatina to the Ostia.
* This was ostensibly a persecution of the Jews with whom
the Christians were then confounded. Suetonms says that the
proscription of the hnpro/essi, Jews, or those who lived after the
manner of Jews was due to the rapacity of the emperor.
THE CATACOMBS 509
We enter a large vestibule, and a fragment found
near here perhaps gives us the inscription which was
originally placed over it with the name of the pro-
prietor ; the place for such a titidus may still be seen
over the monumental doorway, a quadrangular cornice ;
and De Rossi conjectures that this titulus may have
consisted of the simple words sepulcrum flaviorum,
with the symbol of the anchor.
At the end of the 11. century two buildings were
erected on either side of the vestibule ; on the right a
schola used as a triclinium for the funeral agape, with a
seat running round the wall. On the left a series of
little rooms, with a small reservoir and a well, can still
be traced.
Three steps lead to the slightly inclining descent. The
the vaulted roof decorated with grapes and birds ; the descent,
painting is exquisite as art, and has been compared by
De Rossi with that of the Villa of Livia, and with
that of the most perfect columbaria of the time of
Augustus.
On the left still remains a Daniel among the lions, the
earliest instance of this subject, and 2 persons reclining
at a banquet, the tripod and fish before them, the minister
of the feast standing by ; the beautiful classic form of
these is very noticeable. When we reach the end of the
descent the vaulted roof becomes flat, and the character
of the decorations alters. In the walls are four great
recesses for sarcophagi. None of the usual precautions
have been observed ; the name is over the door, the
entrance is large and easy, religious subjects are depicted
from the entrance, and these great sarcophagi meet the
eye at once. All this points to construction in a time
of Peace. Besides these four recesses, four galleries of
loculi branch off from here. The loculi are larger
than usual, the fronts being stucco of fine workman-
ship to resemble sarcophagi. De Rossi finds in this
an indication of the transition from the sarcophagus to
the loculus. Near these sarcophagus-loculi is a large
oven shaped recess, raised a little from the ground,
5IO CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
the front of which was evidently intended to be closed
with a large stone. It is an imitation of the tomb of
Joseph of Arimathea : this species of tomb, called by
De Rossi Semitic, is exceedingly rare in the catacombs,
and another proof of the antiquity of this hypogeum.
The inscriptions here present in many instances the
beautiful type and the simplicity of the first age. Un-
fortunately the cemetery was depredated in the xvii.
and XVIII. centuries and its inscriptions broken, scat-
tered, or robbed.
Loculi. Bosio found congealed blood in some of the loculi,
which looked like earth, but when tempered with
water regained its red colour. He also found the
loculus rendered celebrated by Weismann, the simple
epitaph of a woman called Pollecla who is therein said
to have sold barley on the Via Nova.
Another loculus is inscribed in black letters on a
large slab :
ANENXAHTON.
Subjects The subjects found here are Noah in the ark with
of Paint- |-]^g dove, partly destroyed ; near one of the large
'"^^' recesses, De Rossi found traces of a fisherman draw-
ing up a fish, with the bait, and a shepherd with his
flock. To the right of the entrance near the agape
hall is a little sepulchral chamber decorated with the
finest stucco work representing rose buds and birds,
and, for the first time in the Christian catacombs,
Psyche and a winged cupid filling a chest with flowers,
which is repeated 3 times. De Rossi points out that
even among the pagans this subject was of uncertain
signification, and in this instance was placed near the
entrance as being at once harmless and less obviously
Christian.
In 1852 the largest staircase in any Roman cemetery
was found ; it is in two divisions, leading to the two
floors. At its foot is a cubiculum in stucco work, the
date of which is the same as the one just mentioned :
the style of the decoration is purely Pompeian, land-
scapes and rural scenes, dancing cupids, and birds,
THE CATACOMBS 511
which would be indistinguishable from Pagan designs,
were it not for the representations of the Good
Shepherd. At the end of the 11. and beginning of
the III, centuries, further excavations were made
opening out from this chamber, which present a
classical regularity of construction.
In the part just mentioned occurs the following : Inscrip-
Victoria refrigera isspiritus tiis in bono. The form ispiritus *^*^"^-
in horn is pre-Constantinian. By it is one of the same
classical type : . . . Vibas — in pace et pete — pro nobis.
From here comes the inscription to Sirica given on
p. 400. It is anterior to the iv. century.
On the upper floor, on the left of the large stairway
extends a dense network of excavation : the galleries
cross each other, and there are a number of cubicula.
In the space between 2 loculi, in a gallery, is depicted
the half figure of the deceased as an orante ; he wears
a striped tunic and has the head veiled. To the left
Adam and Eve stand by the tree after the fall. There
is the following inscription :
B0Ng>2H
BONo)Sa)
TIo)
KOIMo) MEXOI
EN KcdHM
The sixth line was painted in black, and not cut as the
others are, and De Rossi saw traces of 3 letters which
he thinks might have belonged to EN Oew XP(torTo).
The loculus of a child called Severina has depicted on
it the drawing of a child pressing a bird to its breast,
this lies in the great network of galleries excavated
in the beginning of the iii. century. The least ancient
inscriptions here refer to persons who lived in the first
half of the in. century. To this class the Bonosus
inscription above belongs. After this tomb comes an
arcosolium with the Good Shepherd, the resuscitation of
Lazarus, and Moses striking the rock. Beyond this
512 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Double in a small double cubiculum is one of the 4 representa-
cubiculum tions of Orpheus charming the animals. On his right
Oroheu ^^^ animals like the peacock, camels, and birds ; on his
left lions and tigers.* This is in a deep arcosolium,
above which is a species of niche flanked by 2 painted
columns cut in the tufa. On the left a bearded figure
in a long tunic points with the left hand to a little
group of houses representing a city ; near this is the
Blessed Virgin with the Child on her knee. Armellini
is sure this personage is the prophet Micah, and that
the reference is to Micah v. 2. On the right wall of
the same chamber is a female orante, and on the other
side a male orante, perhaps the coniugi to whom this
cubiculum belonged. Noah in the ark, represented as
an orante, unbearded and in a white tunic, Christ
raising Lazarus, and Elias giving his mantle to Eliseus
from a car drawn by 2 horses, are all to be found here
also. On the left wall there is another arcosolium, and
Moses is represented removing his shoes. Not far
An arco from this " Orpheus cubiculum " is a representation of
solium. the Redeemer seated in the midst of 10 persons, with
an open volume in his left hand, the right arm stretched
out as though he were speaking.
Seals and The impression of a seal on the plaister near a
other ob- loculus shows us a ship on the hull of which is the
In^twrre^ legend : auget mi Deus. May God further me. On the
„iQjj cement of another loculus is twice repeated the impres-
sion of a rectangular seal with the rare name agne. In
this region also abound lamps, vases, glass plates, and
Incisions all kinds of little objects. In 1884 a stone inscribed
and em- in Greek to a little child of 3 months was found,
blems. Beneath, the little naked figure is represented between
2 doves. At his shoulders are 2 little wings, perhaps
the only instance in the catacombs in which the
winged soul is depicted.! In situ still is a great
* See p. 400.
t The idea is due to Pagan art : the early Christians gave no
form to the soul. But from the xi. century it was represented as
a little child issuing from the mouth of the dying person. See
also chap. ix.
THE CATACOMBS 513
marble slab with the ship emblem, and the Latin-
Greek inscription.
K'ALLIMACHVS KOIVGI
KARIS SIMAE
lOTAIA EN eEw
KaUimachus to his very dear wife Julia in God.
On a stone recently found by Sig. Armellini a
curious scene is depicted. A man seated on a cathedra
with his arms by his side is confronted by another
man with both hands raised as if to do him violence.
He believes that this represents the murder of Sixtus II.
Near a loculus on the upper floor, is one of the oldest The
representations of the Epiphany. The Madonna is Epiphany,
seated between 4 magi ; she wears a dalmatic adorned
with purple stripes ; the child on her left knee wears a
little tunic also ornamented with purple. The magi
all wear Phrygian caps and present their gifts on large
plates. The fresco from style and colouring is assigned
to a date not later than the beginning of the in. century,
and may be of the end of the ii."'' This scene occurs
some 20 times in the catacombs, and still more fre-
quently in sculpture.
The decorations of a chamber found in 1870, are, Cubicu-
says De Rossi, unique ; being such as appear only in '"m dis-
the houses of the Imperial period, for example in the '^"^^'"^d in
House of Germanicus on the Palatine. Little columns,
rectangles, framed mirrors, and tiny classical scenes
are depicted ; one representing a goat and 2 sheep
feeding, another a naked Love. This crypt is in the
midst of a very ancient nucleus of the cemetery.
Among the debris was found the inscription of the
proprietor ampliati, in very large lettering of the
classical Flavian type ; this may be the Ampliatus
* De Rossi : Imagini scelte della B. Vergine Maria tratte dalle
catacombe romane. Roma 1863.
33
514 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
mentioned by Paul.* Here also is the later inscription
of the II. century to Aurelia Bonifatia, aurelI/E boni-
FATi^, in a crypt which long remained isolated, the
Third cen- region round being very ancient. One inscription
tury in- bears the consular date 289, and many have the iii.
scnptions. century acclamations : vivas inter sanctos et in orationihus
tuts petas pro nobis. A Greek inscription says : Prima
with hey daughter sleeping in God the Lord Christ.
Another epitaph ends : [credidit in) cristum iesu {m.
vivit? inpatr)E et filio et \sv{iritusancto). Another is:
Fourth Secunda esto in refrigerio. a IV. century cubiculum
century is decorated with a female orante, on whose head is
fum^"" ^^® monogram of Christ ; to her left S. Paul, to her
"™" right S. Peter. In the arch below, Christ is seated
teaching, the 12 at his side. Peter and Paul wear the
nimbus, the others do not. This is the second instance
in the catacomb of Christ seated among the twelve.
A fragment of an epitaph to a virgo sacra says of her :
credidit in Iesu
Ntr Contiguous to this is the cubi-
Cubicu- culum of the Fossor Diogenes, Avho is represented at
lum of the his work, in the rude ungraceful style of the time of
fossor Die- Damasus. This and the last cubiculum are both
genes. rough and unplaistered. Boldetti in trying as usual to
detach a fresco of Christ between Peter and Paul in
this crypt, caused it to perish. A painted inscription
annexed to the fossor also perished.
Earhest The bronze dish with the heads of Peter and Paul
type of the in fine late 11. century work, now in the Christian
SS IM^ museum at the Vatican, comes from this cemetery,
and Paul These are the most ancient types of the faces of those
apostles which the catacombs have preserved to us ;
"and may be called their portraits." Peter has short
crisp hair, a round crisp beard, with coarse and promi-
nent features. Paul has the features thin and marked,
the head bald, and a long curling beard. De Rossi
makes us observe that here is a proof that the con-
ventional types for Peter and Paul were not an inven-
* Romans xvi. 8.
THE CATACOMBS 515
tion of IV. century artists ; but that the type which then
prevailed was an exaggeration of the ancient portraits.
According to the early account Flavia Domitilla the S. Uomi-
younger was received as a virgin by Clemens Romanus,.'illa.
Bishop of Rome, and then denounced as a Christian
by her betrothed Aurelian the son of the Consul Titus
Aurelius, and exiled by Domitian to the Island of
Pontia. She was afterwards led to Terracina where
showing herself ever more constant to her faith she
was condemned to die with 2 virgins Theodora and
Euphrosyne, her foster-sisters, in the reign of Trajan on
the nones of May. But this alleged event is not certain.
Plautilla was the mother of Domitilla, and another iMautilla.
noble figure of the apostolic age, who shared her
daughter's exile. It is said that both had been
baptized by Peter himself ; and that Plautilla bound
the eyes of Paul before his decapitation.
BASILICA OF SS. PETRONILLA, NEREO AND ACHILLEO,
ON THE VIA ARDEATINA.
While excavating the second floor of the cemetery Basilica of
of Domitilla in 1854, the first traces were found of a S. Petron-
large basilica. This church had been erected after ilia.
390 A.D. near the ancient vestibule of the Flavii, and
over the Tomb of Nereus and Achilleus.''' The
excavations were again resumed after an interval of
20 years, Monsignor de Merode having bought the
ground to allow of the work proceeding.
The basilica as now brought to light consists of a
nave and 2 aisles, and is very large. No trace is left
of altar or sedilia, but near the site for the altar there
are fragments of a Damasine inscription on Nereus
and Achilleus. The niche for the episcopal chair
remains. Near it a rude hand, perhaps a child's, has
traced on the plaister the figure of a priest in the
paniila speaking near an ambo. Perhaps this is a
* The date is fixed by an inscription to Beatus and Vincentia
which shows that it was already built in 395. It was erected
during the pontificate of Siricius 390 — 395.
33—2
5i6 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
S. Petron.
ilia's
crypt.
Vener-
anda's
tomb.
I'lavii
tombs.
S. Tetron-
ilia.
record of the homily delivered here on the feast of
SS. Nereus and Achilleus by Gregory the Great. On
that day he spoke extemporaneously.
At the end of the aisle to our right as we enter, is a
large opening to the cemetery which runs round by the
apse ; this, which is called in an inscription introiUis ad
martyres, led to the sepulchre of S. Petronilla, behind
the apse. Close by lay the remains of Nereus and
Achilleus referred to by Gregory in his homily, which
were transferred later to the titulus Fasciola. Many
persons up to the iv. century desired to be buried in
this spot. Over an arcosolium here a matron is repre-
sented, richly dressed in an ample dalmatic, as an
orante in the celestial garden. This is Veneranda : on
her left a young girl, unveiled, receives her. At her
feet is a scrinium full of volumes, and by her head
the open Gospel, and the inscription Petronella Mart.
Near the altar of the martyrs burnt the little oil lamps
in a large alabaster basin. There is here a marble
slab inscribed with beautiful red lettering : flavilla ;
and here too is the Greek inscription of Flavins Sabinus
and Titiamis his brother, a most ancient record of the
Christian Flavii ; Flavius Sabinus was the name of
Vespasian's brother, and this may have been his
grandson or great grandson. Near this is an inscrip-
tion to a presbyter Flavius and his wife Ulpia Con-
cordia, which was found by Marangoni : —
*A^nT0AEMAI02
np. KAi
OUAni KONKOPAIA
SUMB.
Petronilla has come down to us as the daughter of
S. Peter, and is so called in the martyrologies and
itineraries.^-" She, Achilleus and Nereus were all
interred in an area belonging to the Flavii, near the
archaic vestibule which gave entrance to the Hypo-
* Cf I Pet. V. 13, where the Apostle speaks of a disciple in the
words " and so doth Mark my son."
THE CATACOMBS 517
geum. De Rossi discovered in Venice what was un-
doubtedly the actual inscription on Petronilla's sarco-
phagus, and which is as follows :"■' aureli^ PETRONiLLiE
FiLi^ DULCissiM^. As has been pointed out by De
Rossi Petronilla could not be formed from Petrus, but is
formed from Petromns, a cognomen found at the head
of the genealogy of the Flavi Augusti. Petronilla
then, a member of the Aurelian family, was Peter's
spiritual daughter, and therefore one of the first of the
Roman Christians. The title martyr does not occur in
the most ancient martyrologies, and does not agree
with the accounts we have of her ; according to which
being asked in marriage she desired 3 days to consider
her answer, at the end of which time "the mysteries
of the Lord's oblation having been celebrated, she
received the sacrament of Christ, lay back on her
couch, and gave up her spirit." (Martyrology of Ado
for 31 May.) The sarcophagus, moved to the Vatican
in the viii. century, was destroyed with the mausoleum,
and pieces employed as building material ! She is a
Patron Saint of France, which as " the eldest daughter
of the Church " takes one of the eldest daughters 01
Peter as its Patron, and a light is kept burning before
her altar at S. Peter's at -the expense of France. The
long tradition of her kinship to the apostle may have
merely originated in the likeness of the name, but
may it not also be a memorial of his wife who accord-
ing to tradition accompanied him in his preaching, and
encouraged him in his martyrdom, and whom he saw
led out to die before him ? Rome would then have
retained the memory of a holy woman who had been
near to Peter, and dear to him ; and preserved it in
" Petronilla."! Petronilla's feast day is May 31.
• Cf. also that in S. Agnese, supra on p. 463. Petro-
nilla's inscription was removed by Stephen II. or his successor
to the mausoleum of Honorius and Maria by the Vatican
Basilica.
f Strangely enough Petronilla's body was brought eventually
to the exact spot where the IxKJy of Peter's wife must have been
laid. Vide pp. 50, 80,
SS. Ne-
reus and
Achilleus.
518 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
In the Damasine carmen we are told that Nereus
and Achilleus were soldiers, ministers of a tyrant whom
they served from fear, until their conversion to Chris-
tianity, when they fled the camp, professed themselves
Christians, and were put to death. They were brothers,
and eunuchs of Flavia Domitilla, and it is said bap-
tized by Peter at the same time as their mistress and
her mother. They were exiled with Flavia and put
to the torture. During this torture they continued to
deny that they had been baptized by Peter ; and when
no torments could induce them to sacrifice to idols,
they were beheaded, and their bodies buried on the
Farm of their mistress, near her and their disciple
Auspicius. So far the Roman Breviary. But the acts
of these 2 martyrs are not authentic. However their
having probably been members of the Pretorian guard,
is, as we have seen in the accounts of Paul and Peter
in Rome, highly interesting.
Their feast-day is kept on May 12.
Mauso-
leum of
Damasus.
Via Cor-
nelia or
Trium-
PHALIS.
Via di
Porta
PORTESE.
CEMETERY OF BASILEO, VIA ARDEATINA.
This cemetery was incorporated with that of Domi-
tilla after the Peace ; and from that time was called
of SS. Marcus and Marcellianiis. Here Damasus built
a small mausoleum in which he was interred. William
of Malmesbury's Itinerary for the Via Ardeatina says:
" Between the Via Appia and the Via Ostiense is the
Via Ardeatina, where are Marcus and Marcellianus,
and there lies Pope Damasus in his church." No
trace of it remains.
Marcus and Marcellianus were 2 Roman brothers
martyred under Diocletian.
The cemetery where was Peter's tropaum is described
in Chap. IV. It was also known as the Field of Livia,
hortus Livia.
CEMETERY OF PONTIANUS, VIA DI PORTA PORTESE.
Besides this catacomb in the cemeterial zone, the
suburban cemetery of S. Generosa on the same road
THE CATACOMBS 519
has also been excavated. Other names for this cata- Cemetery
comb are 5. Felix, at the Capped Bear (coemeterium ad 0/ Pon-
Ursum Pileatum), and the Cemetery outside the Porta ^'^"
Navale, from its vicinity to the Navali. The present
Porta Portese (Urban VIII.), so called from its leading
to Porto near Rome, succeeds the Aurelian Porta
Portuensis or Porta Navale, anciently known as Porta
Sancti Felicis Marty ris. In the title Cyvieterium Pontiani
ad Ursum Pileatum Abdon et Sennen, we have the 3 ap- Threefold
pellations which often cling to the same cemetery, appella-
Pontianns that of its first founder or the possessor of "°" °
thepradium ; "ad Ursum Pileatum," the topographical teries.
name ; finally SS. Abdon et Sennen, the name given
after the Peace from the most celebrated martyrs
interred there. Crossing from the present Trastevere
Railway Station, we take a steep path on the right
leading up the hill, and enter by a long and steep stair-
case. This is the only catacomb excavated entirely in
alluvial soil. It is in 3 levels, but the walls have given
way in many places and filled in the excavations.
Bosio who found the catacomb in a vineyard of the
English College in i6i8, penetrated it, and found some
of the sites mentioned in the Itinerarium Salisbur-
gensis. He describes what he found, all of which can
be seen perfectly preserved to-day. On July 29 he
went again, this time with an artist and 2 men with
pickaxes. After 3 hours' work he says " piacque al
Signore di consolarci," they found the Baptistery. This
lies at the foot of the staircase ; the fresco in a lunette
is a head of Christ, Byzantine in style. He has a
cruciform nimbus, the right hand is lifted to bless, the
left holds the gospels. The beautiful little font for The bap-
immersion is the only one which remains entire in sub- tistery.
terranean Rome. On the arch before entering is
another Byzantine head of Christ, also nimbused. A
flight of 10 marble steps leads into the water which is
fed by a spring ; the date assigned for the font and
frescoes is the vi. century. On the wall facing the
steps John baptizes Christ in Jordan : below this is a
Sepulchre
of S. Pol-
Hone.
Graffiti.
Crypt
with row-
Entrance
staircase.
Inscrip-
tions.
520 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
gemmed cross, the lower end of which touches the
water. The cross is decorated with flowers. On the
left wall is a tomb with figures of SS. Abdon and
Sennen ;* a youthful figure holds 2 crowns above them,
in reference perhaps to Esdras : *' I saw a great crowd
which I could not number, singing, and in the midst
a youth crowning them." These 2 saints are in Per-
sian costume with Phrygian caps. By Abdon stands
S. Milix and by Sennen Scs. Bicentius, a cross pre-
cedes their names. Vincentius is clad in the pmiula.
Near here is the tomb of S. Pollione, with afenestrella
confessionis above it. He is represented with Mar-
cellinus the priest and Peter the Exorcist on either
side. All 3 have crowns in their hands. On the right
wall is another gemmed and flowered cross, with SS.
Felix and Pigmenius on either side. The same 2
saints are again represented under S. Pollione. The
paintings are covered with graffiti ; one is Saxon :
HEALFREDE PB SERBUS Di. Another: Eustattus nmilis
peccator pbr servitor heati Marcellini Martyris set tu qui legis
or a pro me ut haheam Deiim protector em.
From here we pass along narrow and low passages
to a crypt at some distance. The most interesting
painting here is supposed by Monsignor Wilpert to be
one of the very rare scenes from real life. It is in the
lunette of the arcosolium opposite the entrance. A
rower is standing erect at the prow of a sailing boat
laden with amphora ; and the reference is to the river-
side emporium near by. On the roof is the Good
Shepherd ; in the angles smaller images of the same.
The 4 seasons are also represented. Returning to the
foot of the staircase — there are traces of iii. century
paintings on the walls : Moses striking the rock ; oppo-
site, Noe in the ark ; on the roof Jonah ; the 3 children ;
and the sacrifice of Abraham.
In 1884 Armellini came upon a region of the ceme-
tery where he judged it probable that S. Candida was
Scs. Ahdoi Scs. Senuei.
THE CATACOMBS 521
buried. The names of 2 excavators, of other visitors
of the XVII. and xviii centuries, including 2 Jesuit
Fathers, are inscribed here. The bits of inscription
dispersed about, some of which are in archaic and
beautiful lettering, show that this cemetery originated
before the in. century ; while frescoes of the vi. and
VII, centuries surely betoken the presence of a shrine.
Among the symbolic objects depicted are the waves of
the sea agitated, and the anchor thrown on the beach.
A fragment of glass with the heads of Peter and Paul
was found here.
Pontianus is unknown to us. Panvinius makes him Ponti-
the pope of that name ; and Bosio says he is the Pon- anus,
tianus mentioned in the Acta Callisti, as having given
the latter hospitality. A noble family of this name
existed in Rome in the xiv. century, and S. Francesca
Romana married a member of it. It is certain how-
ever that S. Candida buried Pigmenius in cripta in s. Can-
coemeterio Pontiani in prcsdio stio ad Ursum Pileatum, dida iv.
during the Julian persecution. Either then she inherited century.
the field of Pontianus or excavated crypts near it.
Abdon and Sennen were Persian Satraps (Subreguli), Abdonand
beaten to death in the Decian persecution, under the Sennen.
statue of Nero represented as Apollo, by the Colosseum.
Pigmenius was a blind man, drowned with his little Pigme-
guide, and buried by S. Candida who recovered their "ius.
bodies from the Tiber. Of the martyrs Pollione and
Miles little is known.
A church was built here by S. Candida, which is Basilica
spoken of in the Salzburg Itinerary as Ecclesia S. Can- ^^'- '^®"'
didae. In 771 Adrian rebuilt it. It was decorated by c^dida
Nicholas I., and the popes Anastasius (402) and
Innocent I. (417) were buried here.
BASILICA OF S. FELIX II. "CEMETERY OF JULIUS AT
THE III. MILE, S. FELIX ON THE PORTUENSIS." Con-
stnicted after the Peace.
All the itineraries speak of a Church of S. Felix Basilica of
Martyr. The Liber Pontificalis says that Felix, hunted ^ Felix
■^ Martyr.
522 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
from Rome, hahitavit in pradio suo Via Portuense, where
he died 8 years after the return of Liberius, a.d. 365.
In the Salzburg Itinerary the basilica is simply
entitled : ecclesia b. Felicis martyris. The cultus of
Felix II. is of great antiquity and very special in the
Roman Church. Paulinusof Nola retired to this spot
and there ended his life, Bosio suggests that the
Felix to whom the basilica is dedicated was the martyr
companion of Hippolytus, whose feast is kept on
August 22. The fact is, however, that the shrine of
S. Felix here leaves the vexed question of the cult of
the martyr pope who administered the Church in the
lifetime of Pope Liberius, as vexed as before.
ViaTi- cemetery of cyriaca, via tiburtina.
Catacomb Two ancient cemeteries, now inaccessible, lay under
ofCyriaca. the site of the present Roman cemetery of Campo
Verano. That of Cyriaca extends under the present
Church of S. Laurence and the hill against which it is
built. During the last 20 years especially the works
in the modern cemetery have almost totally destroyed
Cyriaca's catacomb."'' A few interrupted galleries of no
importance remain. But in i860, a part of the hill
was opened up, and a cubiculum found with the fol-
lowing paintings : the Redeemer stands between the
5 foolish and the 5 wise virgins, the torches of the
former are lowered and half spent. It is the only
complete example of this parable. In the same crypt
Christ's prediction of the triple denial is depicted, the
cock at Peter's side. On the other side, the rain of
manna : outside the same arcosolium one of the Magi
in Phrygian costume, the star being represented with
the monogram of Christ within it. The magus is here
the Gentile Emperor, the star which leads him to
Christ is the Christian monogram seen in the sky by
Constantine, "a luminous proof" writes De Rossi, of
* Fr. Mazzolari S.J. records the vandalism done under his
eyes in the destruction of a gallery of intact loculi in 1759.
THE CATACOMBS 523
the fact that the ancient catacomb paintings are to be
interpreted in a symbolic and allegoric sense." Here
also an orante represents the deceased, while 2 saints
draw aside the curtain, pendent from rings, which
admits her to the eternal tabernacles.
A well known arcosolium has recently been again Arcoso-
brought to light. At the top of the fresco Jonas lies li""^
shaded by the gourd, on the right Moses removes his
shoes, on the left he lifts his right hand to receive the
tables of the Law. The central lunette displays the
scene of the judgment of a soul : Christ, nimbused. Judgment
in cathedra, between 2 personages wearing the nimbus, of the soul.
The soul as an orante stands before Christ. The
subject is twice repeated below. The 2 personages
are probably Peter and Paul ; Peter uncovered, Paul
with a high cap on, and both seated. Over the lunette
is the Good Shepherd, between trees rich with fruit,
2 sheep feeding at his feet. Above, by Jonah, is
inscribed Zosimiane in Deo vivas.
Among the large collection of inscriptions from this Inscrip-
catacomb in the Lateran Museum, many are important tions.
as illustrating dogmatic teaching.
The remains of this catacomb are entered from the
Pincetto in the Campo. Santo.
Cyriaca is one of the celebrated figures of early S.Cyriaca.
Christian Rome. Her house as we have seen (S. Maria
in Domnica) was on the Coelian, and she possessed the
Verano outside the gate where the Campo Santo of Rome
lies, and where her catacomb was excavated. This
property was confiscated " in time of persecution "
(Liber Pontificalis in Silvevio). She may have been
one of the order of Widows, and in the itineraries she
is called martyr, but she did not suffer death for the
faith. In the ccemetevium Cyriaca she buried S. Lau-
rence on August 10, 258.-'- Her feast day is kept in
Rome on August 21.
* A IV. century marble with an oration on Quiriace (Cyriaca)
has been found here, and Da Rossi believes, from its position,
that it commemorates the owner of the catacomb, a member of
524 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
The other With Laurence were buried the priest Severus,
martyrs, thg subdeacon Claudius, the lector Crescentius, and
Romans. Romans, an ostiarius ; all martyrs. Romanus was the
Romanus. flj-st martyr brought to this catacomb ; he was a
soldier, converted at the martyrdom of Laurence, and
buried there the day before the holy deacon, Aug. 9.
Crescen- He was decapitated on the Via Salaria, and buried by
tius, Cres- the priest Justinus, who is a well known burier of the
centianus martyrs, and possessed the Jiortus on the Nomentana.
centio " ^ Crescentianus is also venerated in this catacomb. See
also Crescentio, catacomb of Priscilla.
CATACOMB OF HIPPOLYTUS, ON THE TIBURTINA.
Catacomb The second catacomb, that of Hippolytus, though
of Hippo- really distinct from that of Ciriaca has been confused
^^"^ with it. It lay to the left, as we leave Rome, as that
of Ciriaca lay to the right. Here was the celebrated
crypt of the martyr Hippolytus, described by Pru-
dentius, and here Damasus wrote a celebrated inscrip-
tion. The crypt, which is accessible, is an irregular
quadrangular hall, terminating in an apse : 2 steps
lead up to it. The base of the altar still exists ; this
altar, isolated in the centre of a bema terminated by an
apse, is unique, De Rossi tells us, in subterranean
Rome. The wall of the apse was more than once
restored in the iv. century, marbles and inscriptions no
longer in use being used as material.
The entrance is from the old Vigna Gori.
Inscrip- Of the few inscriptions preserved we give 4 :
tions.
IPPOLITE • IN • MENTE
PETRV . . . PECCATORE •
Have in mind, O Hippolytus, Peter a sinner.
the Founder's family. If so, this is the third instance of the
perpetuation of the name of great women founders of the Roman
cemeteries; their descendants being likewise women owners of
the ground. Lucina and Priscilla are both perpetuated to the
IV. century.
THE CATACOMBS
52s
4- IIIC • REQVIESCIT • IN • PACE • HILARYS
LICTOR (Sic) TT PVDENTIS
QVI • VIXIT • ANN • PL • M • XXX
DEP CI IDVS IVL PC . . . MABORTI • V • C .
Here rests in peace Hilary a lector of the title of Pudens.
IVLIVS CREDEN
TIVS QVI NABIGA
VIT EX BACENSE
REGIONE EST IN PACE
Julius Credentius who sailed from a distant land is in peace.
CATILIAE IN PACE FILIE
DVLCISSIME INGENV
A MATER FECIT • D ■
P • Villi • K • IVL • DIG
CLETIANO • III • ET MAXI
MIANO • II
This inscription to Catilia gives the date as the 3rd year
of Diocletian and 2nd of Maximian.
We learn from an inscription that this cemetery
was attached to the urban title of Praxedis.
There are 4 saints of this name : the soldier-martyr Hippo-
converted by Laurence and buried here,* whose lytus.
relics (presumably) were removed to France; the
" Presbyter " celebrated in the Damasine epitaph in
the famous crypt above-mentioned ; the great Doctor, The 4
of whom Newman said that he had perhaps " no rival Hippolyti
at all, .... except his master, S. Irenaeus," whose
statue was found here in 155 1 ; and the Antiochene
martyr of the name on the Via Appia. This Hippolytus
was involved in the Novatian schism, and strangely
* Vide Salzburg Itinerary (vii. century.)
Hippo-
lytus and
Pontian.
The
526 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
enough Damasus and Prudentius make their presbyter
Hippolytus entangled in it also.
The " Hippolytus presbyter " named in the Filo-
calian calendar, which was compiled in a.d. 336, '■' was
martyred with pope Pontian ; and this martyr has
always been identified with the great Doctor : other-
wise there is no evidence of the Doctor's martyrdom.
The Doctor was a bishop, though both Jerome and
Eusebius ignore of what See.t
All these persons lived or died in the middle of the
III. century. The vexed question is : are the Doctor]^
and the " Presbyter " one, and was Damasus misled ?
So that the "Schism" in which Hippolytus was
"Schism." entangled was in fact that Callistan schism revealed to
us by the Philosophumena ? § Some are ready to
identify the martyr, presbyter, and Doctor of the Via
Tiburtina, making only one Hippolytus there interred.
The chronology of the Acts of Laurence's convert is
very faulty. He is there said to have been sentenced
to the death of his pagan name-sake, and tied to the
Confusion tails of wild horses. In the poem of Prudentius we
in the are told that the. presbyter -martyr'' s death was so depicted
in the celebrated crypt : thus inextricably confusing
the soldier-martyr with the martyr-priest. ||
The terms in which the Appian martyr's connection
with the Novatian schism is told in the earliest
Martyrologies, are very similar to those employed by
Damasus in the Carmen on the Tiburtine Hippolytus.
One cannot miss the accent of uncertainty in the last
lines of this famous inscription :
poem of
Pruden-
tius.
HAEC AUDITA REFERT DAMASUS PROBAT OMNIA CHRISTUS.
* Depositio Marty rum : "Ides of August, Hippolytus on the
Tiburtina, and Pontian on the Portuensis."
t The Eastern Church commonly referred to him as Bishop of
Rome, or of the Port of Rome (Porto).
I Ob. probably circa a.d. 236. The Novatian schism was not
till 252—258.
§ See catacomb of Callistus p. 441. S. Callistus p. 205.
II Peristephan5n, xi.
THE CATACOMBS 527
CATACOMB OF SS. PETRUS AND MARCELLINUS, AND OF Via Labi-
S. HELENA AT TOR PIGNATTAKA, OUTSIDE PORTA CANA.
MAGGIORE.
This catacomb, known in the middle ages as Catacomb
Ccemeterium inter diias lauros ad Sanctam Helenam, lies in of SS.
the campagna in a spot anciently designated as : ad F,^'®^ ?;.
duas lauros, in comitatu sub Augusta. Tertullian, in the ^yg
III. century, mentions a district ad duas lauros called
" Sub Augusta," and governed by a bishop, which
Avas almost entirely Christian. The term Suh Augusta
referred to the mausoleum of the Augusta Helen, the
mother of Constantine, erected here by the imperial
villa. Underneath, there spread a large cemetery,
supposed to have originated in the Diocletian persecu-
tion ;* but which has been shown to be much older.
The descent to this was made from the mausoleum, or
Ecclesia S. Helena. The cemetery is now menaced by
a modern sandpit.
14 cubicoli decorated on roof and walls with the Painted
usual biblical scenes, were counted by Bosio. A chambers.
Baptism represents Christ as a little child, standing as an
orante with the dove on his head. An A nnunciation repre-
sents Mary seated, and the angel saluting her. The
magi appear 3 times, twice with the Madonna. The
paralytic taking up his bed ; the haemorrhoissa, kneel-
ing and touching the edge of the Redeemer's garment ;
the blind man healed by Christ who touches his eyes ;
the resurrection of Lazarus ; the multiplication of the
bread ; and the favourite Dialogue of our Lord with
the woman at the well — are the other Gospel scenes
represented. An arcosolium is thus decorated : in the Decora-
lunette is Mary seated on a throne, with the child in tion of an
her arms, and 2 magi who bring gifts. She is un- ^^^oso-
veiled and wears a tunic striped with purple. This
painting is assigned to the second half of the iii. cen-
tury. Near are represented Moses striking the rock,
Noah in the ark, Lazarus raised, the bread multiplied,
* Acts of SS. Susanna and Sebastian.
528 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
and an orante. On the wall by the door of the crypt
is a fossor at work. On the roof is the Good
Shepherd with the sheep on his shoulder, 2 more at
his feet, and the usual tree on either side representing
country. The Jonah cycle is also depicted.
Unique A scene unique in the catacombs, occurs frequently
scene re- in this one, a reproduction of it can be seen in the
thi^^ca/a- C^"stian museum, and in d'Agincourt's book. At
comb. either end of the /—s shaped table at which are placed
3 guests, a woman is seated in cathedra : between them
is a tripod with something (a fish ?) laid on it. By the
side of one is an amphora, the other places her arm
on a youth, apparently dressed, as she is, in a sleeved
dalmatic, who bears in his hand a large chalice, which
he is taking in the direction of the other seated figure,
whose right hand is extended as if directing his move-
ments, or to take the cup from him. The 3 other
seated figures, which are small and less conspicuous,
all stretch their arms across the table.* Over the
painting is written Iretie da calda . Agape misce mi (or
misce vi, S^(/i). The names are always Irene and
Agape; but the words vary to: Agape misce nobis;
Irene porge calda. Which of the 2 kinds of banquet
distinguished by De Rossi does this represent ? The
eucharistic convivium of Christ's disciples on earth, or
the Banquet of the blessed in heaven ? It is answered
that the scene just described represents the latter,
which is ministered by " Peace " and " Love," the
2 essentials of the joy of Paradise. The liturgies for
the dead speak of the blessed convictus, or banquet of
God, " et justi epulentur, et exsultent in conspectu
Dei " (and the just shall feast, and shall exult in the
sight of God) ; God is besought to give to the dead
" refrigerii sedem," a seat of refreshment ; and Refri-
gerium, as we know, is the word generally employed to
express heavenly joys. In the Acts of the martyrs
Marianus and Janus, circa a.d. 259, Janus is repre-
* In every representation of the bread and fish banquets in the
catacombs, one or 2 of the persons present point in this way.
THE CATACOMBS 529
sented saying to Marianus : " ad martyrum beatorum
pergo convivium " — / go fonmrd to the banquet of the
blessed martyrs.
But there is another explanation of this scene,
agreeing with the usual distinction between the feasts
of bread and fish, and the scenes in which adults and
children rejoice among fruit and flowers, in which we
recognise the refrigerium of heaven. According to this
explanation, the scenes in the catacomb of SS. Petrus
and Marcellinus, represent the agape, or Christian feast,
and the 2 women who always appear in it are
deaconesses." It may be noted that Irene and Agape
became usual as Christian names, and it is just
possible that the first to adopt them were the
deaconesses, in allusion to their ministration. Bear-
ing in mind the distinction between the 2 scenes of
happiness to be met with in the catacombs, we must
first observe that the presence of the tripod and fish is
unknown in scenes symbolic of paradise ; on the other
hand the treatment here is entirely novel — the baskets
are absent, while the liturgical action, the indicating
with the hand, is present ; and we may perhaps there-
fore regard this scene as an Agape (which was there-
fore probably administered by the deaconesses) in this
instance adapted to symbolise the celestial beatitude.
To our mind the 2 women are given separate parts in
the scene ; and their dress differs also.
There are 3 great divisions of this catacomb, each Divisions
originally approached by a separate staircase, and of the
having its separate system of luminaria. In one region catacomb,
were interred the martyrs Petrus and Marcellinus, in
the others Gorgonius and Tiburtius respectively. At
this moment excavations are being made beneath the
ruins of a basilica, which it is believed will result in
the discovery of the crypt of the former luartyrs. In
a subterranean oratory discovered by Bosius and now
again brought to light the Redeemer is depicted
between these 4 martyrs. The fresco is reproduced in
• Kirchenlexicon, Kraus
34
530 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Basilicas
above.
The mar-
tyrs.
the Christian Museum. A large stairway leading to
2 floors, and covered with graffiti among which occurs
Tiburtius in ^jT cun suis amen, may give access to the
crypt of that martyr.
Constantine is said to have built a church in honour
of Peter and Marcellinus, near Helena's Mausoleum.
There was also an oratory dedicated to Tiburtius.
For Peter and Marcellinus, see p. 262. The other
2 are martyrs of the same date, the Diocletian perse-
cution of A.D. 304. All 4 were interred here by a
kinswoman of Tiburtius. Tiburtius was burned, and
Bosius saw among some fragments of mosaic the
figures of saints all wearing diadems, one of whom
had a fire at his feet.
For the " 4 crowned Saints " here buried, see p. 333.
A band of soldiers and anonymous martyrs were
laid to rest here in 304. The Diocletian persecution,
as we know, was an attempt to root out the Christian
. religion by striking at all classes of Christians — slaves,
cution, clergy, and soldiery were hunted down, and the large
284—305. number of soldiers who fell shows that the faith had
penetrated the Roman legions.
Cemetery The CEMETERY OF S. Castulus on the same road is
°!i^;, ^^^' ^^^ inaccessible, it has recently been cut through in
* constructing a railway.
Soldiers
buried
here.
Diocle-
tian perse
tulus.
Via Fla- catacomb of s. valentine.
Caticomb This catacomb, the only one upon the Via Flaminia,
ofs. is the burial-place of S. Valentine martyred under
Valentine. Claudius in 269 and buried by a Christian matron
Sabinella in her own property. Its situation we learn
from the pilgrims' itineraries ; the Einsiedeln MS.
states "I'w Via Flaminia forts muram in dextra," and
another incorporated in William of Malmesbury's
History : " Ibi in prinio miliaria foris S. Valentinus in sua
ecclesia reqiiiescit." " There at the first mile without,
S. Valentine rests in his church." The catacomb was
THE CATACOMBS 531
found by Bosius in the xvi. century but was only
identified as that of S. Valentine by Professor Marucchi
some few years ago.
The entrance is beneath the Monte Parioli and
leads almost immediately and without descent into
a vestibule. Here in all probability Sabinella laid the Vestibule,
body of Valentine. The sarcophagus of the saint
stood possibly on the left ; on this wall are remains
of frescoes representing 4 saints, probably Valentine, Frescoes.
Zeno and the two Persians, Audiface and Abacum —
only their feet are now visible. Here can be seen the
graffiti of pilgrims, among them the names marcus
PRESBYTER and PETRUs PRESBYTER, two priests who
doubtless came to say Mass here in the vii. century.
Opposite the entrance are still traces of a frescoed
crucifixion, the only one as yet found in a catacomb."
In a niche to the left of this fresco, is a madonna
and child, Byzantine in type, by the side the words
" Sancta Dei Genetrix " in letters one above the
other. The whole oratory was probably decorated in
the VII. century by Pope Theodore, and we know that
it was venerated as the resting place of Valentine even
after the body of the saint was removed from it.
To the original oratory of this catacomb, other por-
tions were added — an opening was made in the centre
of the wall and galleries were excavated for interment
near the body of the martyr. These were cut in a
regular and parallel manner, a form rare in catacombs.
Many of them have been destroyed and all have been
injured and the loculi etc. altogether obliterated by the
adaptation of the catacomb for many years as a wine
vault. At a later date another floor was made above, Upper
cut into the substance of the hill, this was probably floor,
in the iv. century, and was the public cemetery. It
is of larger dimensions than the lower floor, but at
present only part is excavated, and no frescoes or in-
scriptions have been found.
Few inscriptions have come to light in the catacomb Inscrip-
• See p. 26. '^°"'-
34—2
532 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
of S. Valentine, those fragments saved had been used
as building slabs for the sepulchres of a cemetery
made above ground at a later date, and have now been
affixed for the most part, to the walls of the galleries.
On one to several persons of a family, occur the words
AD DOMNU VAL . . . This is of the III. century. In
another, the monogram w y/ k shows it to be anterior
to the Constantinian period.
CRESCENTIAN
VIXSE ANNVS II
ET MESIS IIII
DEPOSITVS
M
^ )k K
Some of the inscriptions bear consular dates, one of
these is of a.d. 410, the notable year of Alaric's sack
of Rome, the only inscription of this date yet found.
Another is to a priest of the title of S. Lorenzo in
Lucina, showing that the cemetery belonged to this
parish. In one inscription occurs the word refrigeri so
characteristic of primitive inscriptions :
Brucia REFRIGERI
TIBI V
Basilica of As early as the iv. century a basilica was built by
Valentine. Julius I. (337-352) in honour of S. Valentine, which
was placed by the side of the catacomb owing to the
hilly ground. It was surrounded by an open air
cemetery, one of the first such in Rome, and the date
318 upon one of its tombs, shows it to have been in
existence even before the building of the basilica.
The latter was of such importance that it was called
Basilica magna, and gave the name of Porta Sancti
Valentini to the neighbouring city gate. The body of
the martyr was not translated to this basilica until the
pontificate of Honorius I. (625-640). Fragments of a
THE CATACOMBS 533
Damasian inscription have been found which no doubt Damasian
was placed upon the altar of the confession. Inscrip-
A niche near the tribune possibly held an altar ^°°"
dedicated to S. Zeno, as the translation of his body
here is mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis.
In the IX. century a Benedictine monastery was Monas-
built near the basilica. In the xiv. century during the tery.
Avignon exile, the church was abandoned, and the
body of the martyr was removed to S. Prassede. The
ruins of the basilica with fragments of sarcophagi were
found in 1888. The "Acts" and ancient martyrologies S. Valen-
give the 14th of February 269 as the date of Valen- tine,
tine's martyrdom.-'' He suffered under the second
Claudius. Valentine was a priest and a doctor, and
through his skill as such was accused of magic and
was condemned to decapitation. Another Valentine,
Bishop of Terni in Umbria suffered martyrdom at
about the same date, and was buried in Terni. By
some he is considered to be one and the same person
as the Valentine of the Via Flaminia. De Rossi how-
ever believes them to be distinct.!
THE SUBURBAN CEMETERIES OF ROME.
The spots outside Rome where Christian catacombs Suburban
lie are : Veil, Ficulea, Tivoli, Tusculum, Valmontone, catacombs
Albano, Ariccia, Nemi, Marino, Anzio, Porto, Ostia, °^ ^oi"e.
Lorio, etc. They number some 34. On the Nomen-
tana, 6 miles, lies the interesting catacomb of Alex-
ander, and on the Portuense, 5 miles, that of Generosa
— both excavated.
* Lectionarium Cod. Vat. 5696. The BoUandists published the
" acts " of Valentine in Tom. II. of February,
t See Catacomb of Praetextatus.
VISITOR'S CALENDAR.
Churches in Rome are shut from 12 to 3 in the afternoon, to admit of cleaning.
They_ open about 5-30 a.m. and close at the Ave Maria. Basilicas however
remain open the whole day. Churches seldom used are open at an early
hour on Sunday ; and the least frequented churches on the feast day, the
Station day in Lent, and for the Quarant' Ore.
\For an account of the Station and of the Quarant' Ore, See Part II.
of the Handbook. '\
Entrance to the Catacomb of S. Callistus, which is in the care of the Trappists,
can be obtained every day from early in the morning till 3 p.m. There is a
fee of I franc.
The little Catacomb of S. Agnese, entered from the Basilica, is closed from
June I to October 31 ; and after midday on 3.\\_fesias : at other times it can
be seen by applying at the sacristy. Only 5 visitors are allowed to enter it
at one time.
Entrance to the other catacombs (except that of S. Sebastian, always open) can
be obtained by applying to Monsignor Crostarosa, Via del Quirinale No. 24;
parties being then sent with a proper guide.
January i . . Circumcision and Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.
Station at S. M. in Trastevere.
At 4 p.m. at the Gesu the " Veni Creator " is sung
for the beginning of the New Year.
,, 5 .. Eve of Epiphany .
3 p.m. Blessing of the water at S. Atanasio in
the Greek rite and at 4 p.m. at S. Andrea della
Valle in the Latin rite.
4 p.m. 1st Vespers of the Feast at the Propa-
ganda Fide.
„ 6 .. Epipha?iy.
During the morning mass in Oriental rites at the
Propaganda Fide.
II. 15 a.m. High Mass of the Feast.
9.30 a.m. Pontifical Mass in an Oriental rite at
S. Andrea della Valle ; and the same every day
of the Octave.
9.30 a.m. the Cardinal Vicar blesses the water in
the Latin rite in S. Francesco delle Stimate.
4 p.m. 2nd Vespers at the Propaganda.
VISITOR'S CALENDAR 535
January 16 . . S. Marcello. Feast in S. Marcello al Corso.
.1 17.. S. Antonio Abate. Blessing of horses in the
piazza outside the church of S. Eusebio during
the morning. *
3.30. 1st Vespers at S. Peter's.
18 . . Chair of S. Peter in Rome. Feast at the Vatican
Basilica.
10 a.m. High Mass.
S. Prisca. The church and sotterraneo on the
Aventine should be visited.
,, 20 . . 4 p.m. ist vespers of S. Agnese at the church in
Piazza Navona.
21 . . S. Agnese V.M.
10 a.m. Pontifical Mass at the basilica outside
the walls and blessing of the lambs.
,, 25 . . Conversion of S. Paul. A small feast is kept at
the basilica, and at S. Paolo alia Regola where
the subterranean altar is shown.
30 . . 5. Martina. Feast at the church in the Forum.
31 . . Eve of S. Ignatius. At the time of Vespers the
lower church of S. Clemente is lighted up, and
the same the next day.
February i . . S. Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr. Feast in
S. Clemente.
2.. Purification of the B. V.M. Candlemas.
10.30. Pontifical Mass, distribution of candles
and Procession at S. Peter's.
5 . . S. Agata. Feast at the chapel of the Irish
College.
7.. Cappella Papale in the Sistine Chapel, Requiem
Mass for Pius IX. (tickets necessary).
8.. S. John of Matha, founder of the Trinitarians.
His room is shown over the arch of Dolabella.
9.. S. Apollonia. Distribution of dowries to young
girls in S. Agostino.
22.. Chairof S.Peter at Ant ioch. Festival at S. Peter's.
CALENDAR FOR LENT.
Ash Wednesday . . Station at S. Sabina, S. Alessio, and S. M. in
Cosmedin.
1st Thursday .... ,. ,, S. Giorgio in Velabro.
,, Friday ,, ,, SS. Giovanni e Paolo and S. Gre-
gorio.
,, Saturday „ ,, S. Trifone and S. Agostino.
,, Sunday „ ,, The Lateran.
• Animals are blessed on this day, the great Abbot Antony
being their patron.
536 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
ist Monday Station at S. Pietro in Vincoli.
,, Tuesday ,, ,, S. Anastasia.
2nd Wednesday .. ,, ,, S. M. Maggiore.
,, Thursday .... ,, ,, S. Lorenzo in Panisperna.
,, Friday ,, ,, XII. Apostoli.
,, Saturday ,, ,, The Vatican. On this day there
is a general ordination at the
Lateran.
„ Sunday ,, ,, S. M. in Domnica, S. Gregorioand
S. M. Maggiore.
,, Monday .... ,, ,, S. Clemente, at Vespers the lower
church is illuminated.
„ Tuesday .... ,, ,, S. Balbina.
3rd Wednesday , . ,, ,, S. Cecilia.
,, Thursday ,, ,, S. M. in Trastevere.
„ Friday S. Vitale.
„ Saturday ,, ,, SS. Marcellino e Pietro.
,, Sunday ,, ,, S. Lorenzo Fuori.
,, Monday .... ,, ,, S.Marco.
,, Tuesday ,, ,, S. Pudenziana.
4th Wednesday . . ,, ,, S. Sisto and SS. Nereo e Achilleo.
,, Thursday* . . ,, „ SS. Cosma e Damiano.
,, Friday ,, ,, S. Lorenzo in Lucina.
,, Saturday ,, ,, S. Susanna and at S. M. degli
Angeli.
Sunday called)
Lcetare j
Monday
,, Tuesday ....
5th Wednesday . .
,, Thursday
,', Friday
,, Saturday, )
caXled Sitientes)
„ Sunday, Pas-|
sion Sunday)
,, Monday
,, Tuesday
6th Wednesday . .
„ Thursday
„ S. Croce.
,, SS. Quattro Incoronati, S. Giro-
lamo della Carita and at S. M.
in Vallicella (Chiesa Nuova) .
,, S. Lorenzo in Damaso and S. An-
drea della Valle.
,, S. Paolo Fuori.
,, S. Silvestro in Capite and S.Mar-
tino.
„ S. Eusebio and S. Bibiana.
,, S. Nicola in Carcere.
,, S. Peter's.
,, S. Crisogono.
,, S. Ciriaca, and SS. Quirico e
Giulitta.
•,, S. Marcello.
,, S. Apollinare.
* This day the chief pictures of the Madonna are uncovered,
and remain so until the Tuesday after Low Sunday.
VISITOR'S CALENDAR
537
Cth Friday Station at S. Stefano Rotondo.
,, Saturday ,, ,, S. Giovanni a Porta Latina
,, Sunday, Palm)
Sunday . . j
„ Monday
,, Tuesday ....
7th Wednesday . .
,, Thursday....
Good Friday ....
,, Saturday ..
Easter Sunday . .
Monday ..
Tuesday . .
Wednesday in )
Easter week . . J"
Thursday in Easter )
week )
Friday in Easter) f
week j (
Saturday in Easter |
week j
Low Sunday ....
The Lateran.
S. Prassede.
S. Prisca, S. M. del Popolo, and
S. M. in Campitelli.
S. M. Maggiore.
The Lateran.
S. Croce.
The Lateran.*
S. M. Maggiore.
The Vatican.
S. Paolo Fuori.
S. Lorenzo.
SS. XIL Apostoli.
The Pantheon and S. M. sopra
Minerva.
The Lateran.
S. Pancrazio and S. M. in Traste-
March
On all the Fridays there is a Station and special
Vespers at S. Peter's ; followed by Compline.
Anniversary of the Coronation of Leo XIII. Cap-
pella Papale at the Vatican (tickets necessary).
S. Thomas Aquinas. In S. M. sopra Minerva and
in other Dominican churches.
S. Francesca Romana. Feast at the church in the
Forum.
S. Gregory the Great. Feast at the church on the
Coelian.
Feast in the chapel within the Palazzo Mas-
simo, t
S. Patrick. Feast at S. Agata and S. Isidore.
S.Joseph. General holiday.
In the chapel of S. Helena, in S. Croce, the
Great Reliquary called " of S. Gregory the
Great " is shown.
S. Benedict. Feast in the little church over Ponte
Sisto.
5. Balbina. Feast in the church on the Aventine.
• For the Holy Week Calendar and the functions of this week
see Pt. II. of this Handbook,
t See p. 230.
538 CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
April 17
.. 23
.. 25
.. 28
.. 29
May 2
.. 3
June
,, 23.. ..
,,24.. ..
„ 26.. ..
,, 28 and 29
July 31.. .,
August i . .
5 ••
15 ••
September 14
November i
S. Anicetus Pope. Feast in the church of Palazzo
Ahemps.
S. Giorgio. Feast in the church in the Velabro.
S. Marco. Feast in the church of S. Mark.
S. Paul 0/ the Cross, founder of the Passionists.
Feast at SS. Giovanni e Paolo.
Olives are blest and distributed at S. M. sopra
Minerva " against lightning and tempest," this
being the feast of S. Peter Martyr.
S. Catherine of Siena. Feast at S. M. sopra
Minerva.
5. Athanasius. Feast in the Greek rite at
S. Atanasio.
Re^finding of the Cross. The Cardinal Vicar
usually celebrates mass at S. Croce, about
9 a.m.
S. Pius V. His body is shown at S. M. Maggiore
(a very Roman feast). His room is shown at
S. Sabina on the Aventine.
5. Giovanni a Porta Latina. This church and the
tiny chapel of S. Giovanni in Olio are open.
SS. Nereo e Achillea. Feast in the church. S. Pan-
crazto. Feast in this church also.
S. Piidentiana. Feast at her church.
S. Philip Neri. Feast at the Chiesa Nuova.
On the feast of Corpus Christi there is a great
festival in S. Peter's, and on the evening of the
Octave there is a great procession in which
the girls who have received dowries, either to
marry or to go into convents, take part.
Eve of S. John Baptist. Vespers at the Lateran :
before Vespers gilliflowers are blest for the sick.
S. John Baptist. The great feast of this saint at
the Lateran.
SS. Giovanni e Paolo Martyrs. Feast at their
church.
S. Peter. Great Festival at the Vatican.
S. Ignatius Loyola. Feast at the Gesii.
Titular feast at S. Pietro in Vincoli.
S. Maria delta Neve. Titular feast of S. M. Mag-
giore.
Assumption of B.V.M. Feast in S. M. Maggiore.
Exaltation of the Cross. Feast at S. Croce.
All Saints. This festival is kept at a different
church every year.
All Souls. On this day and until the loth the
Campo Verano and S. Lorenzo are visited.
Feast of all the English Saints at the church of
S. Giorgio, Piazza di Spagna.
VISITOR'S CALENDAR 539
November 9 Dedication of the Lateran basilica. At 5.30 at the
Campo Santo chapel near the Vatican, the
cemetery is illuminated and the function of
absolution of the dead is performed.
„ 18 Dedication of the basilicas of S. Peter and S. Paul.
Station at both churches, and ist and 2nd
Vespers are sung at S. Peter's on this day and
on the Eve.
„ 21 Vespers at S. Cecilia at 3 p.m.
22 S.Cecilia. The titular Cardinal celebrates Mass.
The 2nd Vespers are at 3 p.m. To-day and
to-morrow S. Clemente is illuminated at
Vespers.
23 S. Clemente. Feast at the church.
December 2 S. Bibiana. Feast at her church.
5 S. Sabba. The church is open on this day.
21 5. Thomas Apostle. The chapel in the Cenci
Palace is open on this day.
,, 24 Vigil of Christmas day. Station at the altar of the
Presepio at S. M. Maggiore where the culla is
carried to-day. At 3 p.m. Christmas Mass in
the Armenian rite at S. Niccolo da Tolentino
and at S. Biagio. Vespers of the Feast at
S. M. Maggiore at 3 p.m.
25 Christmas day. Station at S. Anastasia for the
Mass at Dawn, and for the rest of the day at
S. Peter's. At 6 a.m. procession of the culla
at S. M. Maggiore when the church is full of
peasants. At 7 a.m. Matins and Mass in the
choir chapel at S. Peter's, usually with lovely
music. At II a.m. High Mass at S. Peter's
and at all other churches. On this and the
following days, little children recite in the
afternoon at Ara Coeli.
26 S. Stephen Protomartyr. Station at S. Stefano
Rotondo, where there is pontifical mass.
At 3.30 p.m. First Vespers of S. John the Apostle
at the Lateran.
27 S. John Evangelist. Feast at the Lateran.
,, 29 S. Thomas of Canterbury. Titular feast in the
church of the English College.
31 At 4 p.m. asolemn Te Deumissungat the Gesu.
STATIONS OF ADVENT.
ist Sunday, Station at S. Peter's and at S. M. Maggiore.
2nd ,, ,, S. Croce where the Reliquary of " Gregory
the Great " is shown.
3rd ,, ,, S. Peter's.
4th „ ., XII. Apostoli.
EMPERORS AND POPES DURING THE
AGE OF THE PERSECUTIONS.
Accession.
Anno.
Anno.
Peter, martyred ...
... 67
Claudius ...
... 41
Nero
54
Linus
79
Galba, Otho, Vitellius
... 68
Vespasian
... 68
Anencletus
... 91
Titus
... 79
Domitian
... 81
Clement ...
... 106
Nerva
... 96
Evaristus...
... 108
Trajan ...
... 98
Alexander (year of accession)
Hadrian ..
.. 117
109 ... ... or 121
Sixtus I. (119)
, 132
Telesphorus(i29) ...
, 142
Antoninus Pius
... 138
Hyginus(i39)
, 154
Pius I. (143)
, 158
Marcus Aurelius ...
... 161
Anicetus (157)
, 167
Soter(i68)
. 175
Commodus
... 180
Eleutherius(i77) ...
, 182
Pertinax...
- 193
Victor I
••• 193
Didius Julianus
- 193
Niger
- 193
Zephyrinus ... 20
2 0^203
Septimius Severus...
... 193
Callistus I. (219) ... I
■>r 221
Caracalla, Geta ...
... 211
Macrinus
... 217
Elagabalus
... 218
Urban I. (223) ...
, 227
Alexander Severus...
... 222
Pontianus (230) ... ,
. 233
Antheros (235) ... ,
, 238
Maximinus
- 23s
The two Gordians, Maximus,
Pupienus, Balbinus
... 237
Fabianus (240) ... ,
, 236
Third Gordian
... 238
Philip ...
... 244
Decius ...
... 249
Cornelius (254) ... ,
, 251
Hostilianus, Gallus
... 251
4
EMPERORS AND POPES DURING PERSECUTIONS 541
Accession.
Anno.
Anno.
Lucius I. (252) ... or 255
Volusianus
... 252
Stephen I.
• 253
^milianus, Valerianus,
Gal-
Sixtus II.
• 257
lienus ...
••• 253
Dionysius(26i) ...
• 259
Felix I. (269)
. 272
Gallienus alone ...
... 266
Claudius II. (the Goth)
... 268
Aurelianus
... 270
Eutychianus
. 275
Tacitus ..^
••• 275
Florian ...
... 276
Probus ...
... 276
Caius
. 283
Carus
... 282
Carinus, Numerianus
... 284
Marcellinus
. 296
Diocletian
... 284
Marcellusl. (308)..
■ 304
Constantius, Gallerius
••• 305
Severus ...
... 306
Constantine (the Great)
... 306
Licinius ...
••• 307
Eusebius (310)
• 309
Maximinius
... 308
Melchiades (Miltiades)
■ 311
Constantine, Galerius,
Licin-
Sylvester I.
• 314
ius, Maximinius, and Maxi-
minianus, reigning together.
A.D. 309. "Peace of the
Constantine, alone
... 323
Church."
'Lihenus{tn exi/e) ...
• 352
Felix II. (Antipope)
. 356
Julian (the Apostate)
... 361
Damasus...
. 366
INDEX.
In this index, incidental references to the subjects treated in Parts II., III., and IV.
of the Handbook, are not_ included.
The List of the Churches is given on page 357.
The List of the Catacombs on page 419, and at the end of this Index.
S in italics before a name, refers to the account of the Saint named in Chapters V. —
VIII.
m in italics after a name, refers to the account of a Martyr or other Saint occurring in
Chapter X. (the Catacombs).
A.
Abyssinians in Rome* 342, 343.
Ad Catacumbas 53 ; 135 ; 138 ; 378 ;
419.
S. Adrian 162.
S. Agata 169.
Agellus 167 ; 369.
S. Agnes 165.
S. Alexis 175.
Altar 16 ; 28.
Altare privilegiata 31,
Ambones 17 ; 33.
Ambulacrum 135 ; 207.
S. Anastasia 176.
S. Anastasius 124 ; 350.
S. Andrew 180.
Anglo Saxons in Rome 55; 63; 95;
116 ; 159 ; 197 ; 249 ; 250 ; 342,
343-
S. Anicetus 181.
SS. Anna & Joachim 182.
S. Apollinaris 184.
Apostles, martyrdom of, 188, 189.
,, emblems of 21; 188.
Arcosolium 380.
Arculce 33.
Areae & Arenaria 369.
Arena 368
Ark of the Covenant 84, 84 note.
Armenians in Rome 124 ; 299.
S. Athanasius 195.
Atrium 13.
S. Augustine 172.
B.
S. Balbina 197. ,
Balbina m. 448.
Baldacchino 28.
Baptisteries 15 ; 100.
octagonal 100.
S. Barbara 198.
S. Bartholomew 199.
Basilica 8 ; 9.
,, the name 6 ; 10.
„ & Forum 10 ; 13.
Basilica Constantiniana 89.
,, Eudoxiana 316.
,, Heleniana 139.
,, Laurentiana 255.
,, Liberiana 126.
,, Ostiensis 112.
,, Sessoriana 139.
,, of Maxentius 13.
,, Ulpiana 13.
Basilicas, circular, 20 ; 343 ; 347.
sepulchral, 7 ; 381.
Baths attached to Basilicas 63 ; 113 ;
119.-
Baths of Diocletian 201 ; 267.
I ,, of Novatus 328 ; 331 ; 331 vote.
j B6ma 16.
Benefactor, in art, 21.
* The references to Nationalities in Rome are exclusive of the reference to the
National Churches, for the list of which see page 159.
INDEX
543
S. Biagio 202.
S. Bibiana 204.
Blessing lambs 156.
Bocca delta Veritd 275.
Bodies of the condemned 385 noie.
Borgo 63 ; 93 ; 95 ; 114 ; 147.
Brandea 44 ; 118.
Byzantine architecture lo ; 20.
art 21 ; 37.
Calepodius m. 504.
Callistus 292.
S. Callistus 205.
Calvary (image) 40.
Campanile 18, 20.
Cancelluni 17.
Candelabrum 17.
Cantharus 15 ; 32.
Catacomb, the word, 367.
CATACOMBS, List of, 419.
,, soil of, 368.
,, extent of, 370.
,, apostolic, 370.
,, dates of burial in,
373. 373 note.
,, restorations of, 374.
,, sacking of, 375.
,, in Middle Ages, 377.
„ ruin of, 377.
,, decoration of, 386.
,, symbolism of, 386 ;
390 ; 403-
, , Old Testament scenes
in, 387.
,, New Testament
scenes in, 389.
,, Eucharistic symbols
in, 400.
,, Eucharistic scenes in,
402.
,, objects found in, 404.
notes on inscriptions
in, 408.
examples of inscrip-
tions in, 416, 417.
,, explorers of, 379.
Cathedra 16 ; 34.
ofS. Peter 61 ;
S. Cecilia 210.
Cetta tnemoria 51 ; 151 ; 380.
Cemetery, the word, 367 ; 382.
,, use of word, 113 ; 370.
Cemetery, at Tre Fontane 125.
,, in Trastevere 219.
„ at the Vatican, 50 ; 289 ;
289 note.
,, or Campo Santo of Rome,
150.
S. Cesareo 214.
Chapels & Cubicula 18 ; 31 ; 151 ;
370 ; 380 ; 381.
Choir 17.
Christ, images of, 39 ; 40.
,, occult emblems of, 39 ; 399.
Sacred Heart (image) 39.
,, Sancta Sanctorum picture of,
63.
,, monogram of, 399.
,, name of in catacombs 399, 400,
400 note.
Ciborium 28 note ; 32.
S, Claudius 214.
S. Clement 221.
Cloisters, of Later an 93,
of S. Paul's 119.
Cola di Rienzi loi.
Column of the Flagellation 323, 323
note.
Confession or Martyrium 17 ; 30 note.
Confessional 35.
Confessor 17.
Constantina 151 ; 157 note ; 158.
Constantine, baptism of, 100 ; 340.
Constantinian basilicas 55 ; 89 ; 112 ;
152 note ; 215 ; 220 ; 225 ; 338.
Consular dates 413.
Cornua altaris 28.
SS. Cosma & Damian 225.
Cosmato 224.
S. Costanza 158.
Credence table 34.
S. Crisogono 226.
Cross 22.
,, gam mat a 23.
,, Greek 22.
,, jewelled 22,.
,, in Mosaics 'Z'^; 98.
,, Tau 22 ; 23.
Crucifix 24 ; 39.
,, skull on, 27.
Crucifixion 24 ; 242.
,, caricature of, 24.
,, earliest Christian repre-
sentation of, 25.
Crypts, See cubiculum.
544
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
Cubiculum. See Chapels and.
Culla 131.
Cyriaca m. 523.
Damasine inscriptions 427.
Damasus, account of, 256.
Depositio 382.
Diaconia 4 ; 269.
Di Manibus 410.
Dominicum 5 ; 214.
Domitilla m. 515.
Dotnus ecclesice 3 ; 6.
Domus FaustcB 88,
Doors (bronze) 58; 72; 100; 115,
115 note.
„ (carved) 335 ; 351.
,, Porta Santa 58 ; 72.
E.
Early meeting places of the Christians
205 ; 215 ; 217 ; 257 ; 264 ;
278 ; 291 ; 326.
,, (Trastevere) 291 ; 356.
Eastern Christians in Rome 53 ; 71.
" Ecclesia " 5.
Ecclesia Fratrutn 5 ; 370 ; 371.
Emblem & image 23, 23 note.
Emerentiana m. 476.
Encolpii 384.
Ermete (Hermetis) m. 479.
Eternal Father, emblems of, 21.
Eudoxia, Empress, 315.
S. Eusebius 229.
S. Eustace 230.
Evangelists, emblems of, 21 ; 189.
Fa9ades 18.
Felicissimus & Agapitus mm. 450.
Felicitas m. 481.
Felix II. m. 521.
Fenestrella confessionis 232.
Filocalian calendar 53 ;
, , characters 427.
Fonts 4 ; 32.
Fossors 372.
Foundations of Religious (earliest)
147; 156-
Fra Angelico, tomb of, 284.
Franks & French in Rome 64 ; 80 ;
96; no ; 123 ; ■2&onote.
Frescoes 20.
Funeral Rites 382.
G.
Galla Placidia 113, 113 note; 114;
117 ; 142 ; 342.
S. George 237.
Germans in Rome 280 ; 280 note.
Ghetto 356.
Giotto 71.
Good Shepherd 226 ; 391 ; 408.
Gordianus & Epimachus mm. 505.
Gothic, the, 9 ; 12 ; 20 ; 170 ; 274.
j Goths in Rome 8 ; 61 ; 64 ; 65 ; 65
note ; 165.
' Graffiti 375.
\ Greeks in Rome 272 ; 274 ; 278 ; 281
I 319 ; 327 : 334.
I Gregory the Great 8.
1 , , Homilies and chairs of, 307 ;
344 : 481 ; 503 ; Si6.
S. Gregory 248.
Grotte Vaticane 42 ; 53 ; 84.
H.
Helena, Empress, 139 ; 141 ; 158.
Hildebrand 114; 119; 135; 240.
Hippolytus, on the Appia 440.
,, & Callisius, 205, 206.
„ in France 525.
, , statue of, 109.
,, on the Tiburtina 525.
Hippolytus m. 525.
Holy Family (picture) 40.
Holy water 32.
Honorius, Emperor, 8 ; 64 ; 113.
Hortus 369.
Hypogeum 265 ; 370.
I.
Iconoclastic controversy 37,
Images 36.
in the East 36.
Immaculate Conception (image) 40.
Indulgentia plenaria 31.
Inscriptions. See Catacombs.
Irene, Empress, 37.
Irish in Rome 254,
S. Isidore 254.
S. James the Greater 235.
James h fUKp6s 188.
S. James the Less 187.
Januarius m. 481.
Jerome 244.
Jewish burial 371 note.
INDEX
545
S. Joachim 182.
S. John Baptist no.
John Damascene 43.
S. John Evangelist in
55. John & Paul 244.
S. Joseph 251.
images of, 252.
Justin tn. 496.
l^teran 88.
„ baptistery of, 99.
,, Christian museum of, 107.
dedication of, 89 ; 102.
,, Palace 93.
5. Laurence 148.
Leo & Charlemagne 94 ; 346.
Leo the I saurian 37.
Leonine City 63.
Lights in churches 35.
Loculi 379 ; 379 note.
Locus religiosus^i ; 368, 368 note.
Lombards in Rome 58 ; 65 ; 289.
Longinus the Centurion 87 note.
S. Louis 261.
Lourdes Grotto (picture) 40.
Lucina 7 ; 54 ; 112; 117; 138; 259;
263 ; 422 ; 423.
Lucina m. 498.
S. Luke 190.
Luminaria 381.
M.
Macao 121.
Madonna, No. of churches dedicated
to, 267.
first church dedicated to,
127.
,, as figure of the church,
392 rote.
as orante 27 ; 391.
pictures of, 22 ; 489.
Magnanapoli 208.
5. Marcellus 264.
S. Mark the Evangelist 267.
.Vlark m. (pope) 448.
S. Martina 301.
Martyrdom 302 note.
Martyrs, tombs of, 2 ; 7 ; 8 ; 16 ; 17 ;
30.
,, violation of tombs of, 42.
translation of bodies of, 339 ;
376.
S. Mary of Egypt 299.
Mater dolorosa (picture) 40.
Matronajum 13 ; 135 ; 145 ; 155.
Michael Angelo, 67 ; 186 ; 316.
Missionary church for the clergy 289.
Mithras 217.
Modem symbols 397.
Monumentum 369.
Mosaics 20, 21.
N.
Narthex 13.
Nereus & Achilleus w;«. 518.
Nero's Circus 49.
S. Nicholas of Bari 307.
S. Nicholas of Tolentino 308.
Nimbus 32 note ; 324 note ; 396.
Obelisks, of the Vatican 49 ; 70.
,, of Piazza Navona 164.
Octavilla m. 503.
oTkos 3.
S. Onofrio 310.
Orante 27 ; 391.
Oratorium Sanctce Crucis 102 note.
Orpheus 400, 400 note.
Ostiarii 372.
P.
Pagan symbolism (adaptation of) 109 ;
400 ; 400 note ; 404.
Pantheon 311.
Paradisus 56.
Parish 4 ; 141 ; 356.
,, churches in Rome, 160, 161.
, , priests of Rome, 160 note.
Pastorus 326 ; 329 ; 332.
Paternostrari 56.
Patriarchium 94 ; 107.
Paul in Rome 297 ; 312.
S. Paul 119.
Pavements 16 ; 133.
Pax ^w.
" Peace," the, 8 ; 88.
PETER AV Ro.ME 46 ; 197 ; 297 note ,
305 ; 315 ; 326 ; 328.
in the Catacombs 444; 467; 475.
, , & the Domine quo Vadis 448
note.
, , place of martyrdom 49.
Priscilla & Aquila 326.
& Simon Magus 232.
,, statue of 74.
5. Peter 317.
Peter & Paul, apocryphal Acts of, 48.
,, portraits of, 514.
35
546
CHRISTIAN AND ECCLESIASTICAL ROME
I'eter & Paul, leave-taking of, 48 ; 122.
passion of, 47; 122.
place of burial of, 50 ;
112 ; 117.
translation of bodies of,
S3 : 444-
SS. Peter & Marcellinus 262.
Petronilla 64 ; 80 ; 507.
Petronilla m. 516.
S. Philip 187.
Pietk (image) 40.
Pietra sacra 30.
Piscina 34.
Pius IX., tomb of, 146.
Porticoes 56 ; 91 ; 220.
Prcedium 167.
S. Praxedis 325.
Predella 28, 29.
S. Prisca 327.
Priscilla 325 ; 327 ; 493.
Prifcilla vi. 495.
Priscilla & Aquila 326 ; 475.
WW. 495.
Processus and Martinianus mm. 503.
Propaganda Fide 328.
Prophets, in art, 21 ; 322 note.
S. Pudentiana 330.
Pulpit 33.
Q-
Quattro Incoronati 333.
Quirinus 197 ;
R.
Raphael, tomb of, 312.
Red hangings in the churches 62.
Refrigerium 394 ; 402 ; 403 note ; 410.
Regions (of city) 3 ; 3 note ; 371.
Relics 30 ; 41 ; 74 ; 376.
,, of True Cross 75 ; 139 ; 142.
Reservation 33.
Rioni 3.
Rivers, the, in mosaics, 21 ; 266.
Roman Christian Famihes (first ages)
Anici 501.
Bassi 85 ; 501.
Cecilii 210; 212; 330; 424; 438.
Claudi 167 ; 325 ; 331. 331
note ; 346.
Comeli 326-7 ; 330 ; 437 ; 499 ;
506 note.
Eusebi 434.
Eutychiani 458 ; 497.
Flavii 151 ; 157 ; 158 ; 164 ;
506 ; 507.
Roman Families
Glabriones 493.
Ostorii 475.
Petroni 131 ; 517.
Pontiani 521.
Praetextati 212; 452 ; ^ggnote.
Probi 64 ; 78 ; 132 ; 162,
Pudenti 7 ; 320 ; 325-328 ,
330: 483-
Satyri435; 447.
Uranii 447.
Roman churches, number of, 6 ; 6
note; 159.
house 241 ; 332 ; 346.
,, houses 3.
Rooms of Saints 352.
S.
5. Sabba 334.
5. Sabina 337.
Sacra lancia 75.
Sacrament, chapel or altar of, 32.
Sarcophagi 107 ; 407.
,, in atria of basilicas, lov-
,, inscriptions on, 109.
Scala Santa 93 ; 106.
Schola Cantorum 104 ; 292.
Schola Greca 274.
Scotch in Rome 177 ; 378.
Sculpture 108 ; 109 ; 408.
,, subjects represented in
Christian, 108.
S. Sebastian 138.
Sedilia 34.
Seminarist churches or chapels i68 ;
181 ; 183 ; 195 ; and see List of
Churches 357.
Sessorian Palace 139.
Sette Chiese (or "7 churches") 132 ;
134.
Severa, empress, 347.
Sixtus m. 428.
Soteris m. 4 ; 442.
Spaniards in Rome 286.
Stadium 162 ; 311.
Stations of the Cross (pictures) 41.
S. Stephen 345.
S. Susanna 346.
Sylvester, pope, 94 ; 280.
S. Sylvester 340.
Sylvia, 245 ; 248 ; 334.
S. Sylvia 248.
Symbolism of mosaics 17, 18.
INDEX
547
r.
Tituli 3:4; 5.
Tabernacle 32.
Titus, Arch of, 90 noie.
Tarsicius m. 428.
Trastevere 58 ; 291 ; 356.
Tasso309.
Tre Fontane 122.
Temple of Antoninus & Faustina 259.
Tropcea Apostolorum 51.
Bona Dea 271.
Claudius 243.
U.
Fortuna Virilis 299.
Unum ex sept em 31.
Hercules 277.
Urban, bishop, 212.
Minerva 281.
Urban, pope, 212 ; 452.
Piety, Hope, & Matuta
306.
V.
Quirinus3Si.
Valentine m. 533.
Romulus 222.
Valerian & Gallienus, edicts of. 372
Venus & Rome 231.
373-
Templum Pacis. or Sacrse Urbis
222.
Vatican, Part IV.
Probi 57.
Velabrum, 236.
lertuUinus m. 505.
S. Venantius 103.
Theodolinda, queen, 25 ; 44.
Vicus Patritius 328 ; 330.
S. Theodore 347.
.5. Vincent 350.
Theodoric the Goth 64.
5. Vitalis 351.
Theodosius, emperor, 8; 113
"3
no^e.
X.
S. Thomas 348.
Xystus. See Sixtus.
Thrasus m. 482.
Three Judgments 251.
Z.
Tiberius, legend of, 63.
Zeno m. 451.
ACCESSIBLE
CATACOMBS.
iAGE
FACE
Agnese
454
Ostrian
. 466
Balbina
448
Petrus and Marcellinus
. 527
Callistus
422
Pontianus ...
■ 518
Cyriaca
522
Praete.xtatus
• 449
Domitilla
505
Priscilla
483
Ermete
476
Thecla
. 502
Felicitas
480
Thrasus and Saturninu.^
. 481
Hippolytus
524
Valentine
530
Octavilla
502
THE
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